British man reunited with stolen parrot after nine years

Robert Mortimer, a 56-year-old resident of West Yorkshire, has been reunited with his African grey parrot named Barney nine years after the bird was stolen during a burglary at his Bradford home in August 2017. Despite immediate efforts to recover the pet, including distributing posters and offering a 500-pound reward, the parrot remained missing for nearly a decade, leaving Mortimer to believe he would never see his companion again.

The breakthrough occurred when Barney was discovered in a retail chain parking lot, located approximately 32 kilometers from the original site of the theft. Authorities successfully identified the bird using its internal microchip, leading to the unexpected reunion. This discovery concludes a long search process for the father of five, marking the end of a multi-year separation between the owner and his long-lost pet.