Bird missing from Charlotte Metro Zoo

Charlotte Metro Zoo in Rowan County reported the theft Saturday afternoon of an African gray bird named Harley.

“He does talk,” said Rhonda Kiker, an employee at the zoo. “Mostly everything he says, he will include his name in it. It sounds like a human voice.”

Zoo employees believe someone took the bird from his cage between 2:30 and 3:30 p.m. He does not fly.

Kiker guessed that the bird snatcher could have fit the small-sized African gray into a purse or a jacket pocket.

Owners valued the bird, a resident of the zoo for about a year, at more than $1,000.

“This is a big thing,” Kiker said. “We just want our bird back.”

The zoo, located at 4400 Cook Road off N.C. Highway 152, is offering a reward for information leading to the bird’s return.

Harley is gray all over, and tends to attach his name to the end of all of his expressions.

Kiker said the zoo did “a fair amount of business” Saturday, despite the rainy weather.

Anyone with information is being asked to contact the Sheriff’s Department or the zoo at 704-279-6363.

The zoo’s e-mail address is www.charlottemetrozoo.com .