Associated Press in Wellington
Saturday February 4, 2006
The Guardian
Organisers of a vintage car rally have hired karate experts to protect vehicles from parrots, a media report said yesterday. Around 40 members of a local karate club have been enlisted to protect the 140 classic cars expected to visit an alpine village near Mount Cook on New Zealand's South Island on Sunday.
The karate experts will protect the cars from Keas, sharp-beaked native parrots which have been known to damage vehicles in their search for shiny items. However, bird lovers need not be concerned that the birds will be hurt, as their job would simply be to scare them away.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1702017,00.html