Australia's broadband network is being attacked by birds. Thousands of colourful cockatoos are chewing the broadband cables that cross Australian towns. This is causing hundreds of thousands of dollars in damage. Australia's National Broadband Network (NBN) maintains the fibre-optic cables. It spends thousands of dollars to fix each cable. The birds are causing frustration to Internet users. They have reported Internet outages and very slow speeds.
Cockatoos are a type of parrot, They normally eat fruit and nuts. An NBN spokeswoman was puzzled why the birds liked the cables. She guessed that it was their colourful plastic covers. She told reporters: "They are constantly sharpening their beaks and as a result will attack and tear apart anything they come across." She joked: "These birds are unstoppable…I guess that's Australia for you; if the spiders and snakes don't get you, the cockatoos will."