Many Indonesians are obsessed with pet birds, a statement clearly illustrated by the top stories on many an Indonesian news site today dealing with the death of a lovebird named Kusumo.
But Kusumo was no ordinary lovebird. In her short life, she reached legendary status in the bird singing competition scene (a hugely popular hobby in Indonesia) having won over 400 contests at the national level.
“For three-and-a-half years, she won almost every single week,” her owner, Sigit, told Detik today.
“Whatever sound she can hear next to her, behind her, she can ‘copy-paste’.”
Sigit said Kusuma died on Monday although she had not previously shown any signs of ill-health. He says he has accepted her passing and let go of his beloved lovebird.
Many in the bird singing competition community have also mourned Kusumo’s passing, including Fran Kli, a renowned figure in the community, who recalled the incredibly huge offers Sigit received from those interested in buying Kusumo off of him.
“She often took part in contests and won, her value was tens, if not hundreds of millions of rupiah. Someone once even offered IDR2 billion (US$137,600) for Kusumo but her owner refused,” he told Detik today.
For our COCONUTS TV ON IFLIX documentary series, we took a closer look at Indonesia’s obsession with songbirds and how there’s a huge industry involving huge prizes and mind-bogglingly expensive birds — many of which were bred in captivity and have never known a life outside of their tiny cages.
Check out the trailer for COCONUTS TV ON IFLIX below and click here to watch all of the episodes on iflix.
