Bonnie Zimmermann

Web Page: http://www.indonesian-parrot-project.org

Profile: Zimmermann has been involved in the avian world for twenty years. In 1987 she inherited a slightly overweight amazon parrot and the evolution began. In the early years her passion and quest for knowledge about parrots led her to work at the California Exotics Clinic in Simi Valley, California as an veterinary technician specializing in avian pediatrics. For several years she bred African grey and Amazon parrots; she consulted for the LA Zoo California Condor team; and worked as a veterinary technician for the Wildlife Waystation. She has also volunteered and worked on avian-related field projects in South and Central America and Southeast Asia. She lectures at bird clubs, conservation organizations, schools and universities, and has written articles for Bird Talk, Companion Bird Quarterly, AFA Watchbird, and the American Society of Aviculture. In 2002 she founded The Wild Connection, a non-profit organization whose mission is to promote education, conservation, rescue, rehabilitation, and awareness of parrots in the wild, and to take the lessons learned in the forest to find ways to enhance the lives of companion birds. As the Vice-president of the Indonesian Parrot Project and Kakatua Konservasi Indonesia (the Indonesian sister NGO) she is responsible for media, education, research and the eco tourism program. She also works several times a year at Kembali Bebas. In her “real life” she is the Chief Operating Officer for Architects of a New Dawn, a film and media channel project for Carlos Santana. She is committed to educating the public about conservation, protection of wild parrots, and to enhance the lives companion parrots through all forms of media by encouraging the collaboration of knowledge between scientists, zoos, conservationists and aviculture. She lives in Pope Valley, California with a flock of fourteen.