Douglas ( ca 1967 – 23 February 2019) was a male

scarlet macaw The scarlet macaw (''Ara macao'') also called the red-and-yellow macaw, red-and-blue macaw or red-breasted macaw, is a large yellow, red and blue Neotropical parrot native to humid evergreen forests of the Americas. Its range extends from south ...

that played the parrot Rosalinda in the 1970 Pippi Longstocking film ''Pippi in the South Seas''. Douglas was imported from Brazil to Sweden in 1967, three years before starring in the movie. Douglas was capable of singing and of speaking a few dozen words in Swedish.

Later life

In 2002, 32 years after ''Pippi in the South Seas'', Douglas garnered much attention in the Swedish press when authorities were considering putting him to death because his owner did not have the proper paperwork. A petition pleading for Douglas's life received over 50,000 signatures, including that of actress Inger Nilsson, who played Pippi in the 1970 movie. Ultimately, Douglas was spared after his first owner in Sweden produced the correct paperwork, showing that Douglas had been legally imported from Brazil in 1967.Sigrid Harms
Papagei aus „Pippi Langstrumpf“: Douglas muss sterben

Spiegel Online ' () is a German news website. It was established in 1994 as ''Spiegel Online'' as a content mirror of the magazine ''Der Spiegel''. In 1995, the site began producing original stories and it introduced ''Spiegel Online International'' for artic ...

, 7 April 2016 (German)Pippis Papagei darf weiterleben – in Karlsruhe
''

Der Tagesspiegel (meaning ''The Daily Mirror'') is a German daily newspaper. It has regional correspondent offices in Washington, D.C., and Potsdam. It is the only major newspaper in the capital to have increased its circulation, now 148,000, since reunificati ...

'', 14 April 2016 (German) In 2005, Douglas was moved to a small tropical zoo in

Malmö Malmö is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, sixth-largest city in Nordic countries, the Nordic region. Located on ...

where he lived with a female

blue-and-yellow macaw The blue-and-yellow macaw (''Ara ararauna''), also known as the blue-and-gold macaw, is a large Neotropical parrot with a mostly blue dorsum, light yellow/orange venter, and gradient hues of green on top of its head. It is a member of the large g ...

called Gojan. In early 2016, Douglas once more attracted the attention of the Swedish (and later German) media when authorities once again had plans to put Douglas to death, this time because his three-square-meter cage was too small and prohibited Douglas from flying. The authorities requested an

aviary An aviary is a large enclosure for confining birds, although bats may also be considered for display. Unlike birdcages, aviaries allow birds a larger living space where Bird flight, they can fly; hence, aviaries are also sometimes known as flig ...

of at least 30 square meters, which the zoo could not provide, but zoo director Frank Madsen argued that the 49-year-old Douglas was incapable of flying anyway and that there was no sense in cutting the parrot's remaining years short. With the authorities unwilling to grant an exception, Madsen turned to the press and soon received more than 100 offers for a new home for Douglas and Gojan. Ultimately, the Karlsruhe Zoo in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

was selected and in April, Madsen himself delivered Douglas and Gojan to Karlsruhe, where they were greeted with a public welcome party. After Gojan died at the age of 45 in September 2016, the zoo paired Douglas with Rubin,'' Papagei aus "Pippi Langstrumpf" – Ara Douglas ist jetzt Witwer ''
''Spiegel Online'', 23 September 2016 (German) a 22-year-old scarlet macaw that arrived in October. Douglas died of natural causes at the Karlsruhe Zoo on 23 February 2019, aged 51.''"Rosalinda" ist tot: Pippi Langstrumpfs Papagei stirbt im Karlsruher Zoo''
ka-news, 24 February 2019 (German)

Notes

External links

*Klaus Esterluß
''A movie star's sunset years''

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

, 12 May 2016
Douglas
at the Karlsruhe Zoo (video, German)
''Rosalinda, der Pippi Langstrumpf Papagei in Karlsruhe''
– video report on the relocation to the Karlsruhe Zoo (video, German) {{Animal actors Animal actors Animals in entertainment Individual parrots Pippi Longstocking 1967 animal births 2019 animal deaths Individual animals in Sweden

Later life

See also

Notes

External links