A hadeda saved on the fast lane of M13

A hadeda that was saved by a kind member of the public is now free after it was kept overnight at the Kloof and Highway SPCA. Charlene Wannenburg of Kloof said her love for animals could not let her drive past the injured hadeda that was stuck on the fast lane of the M13.

“I was driving home from work when I saw the bird in the fast lane. I pulled over, which caused a bit of traffic as it was around peak hour. When I picked up the bird, it was bleeding, and I had a blanket in my car to wrap it in. I then took it to the SPCA where I knew it would get help. I knew that if I left it there, it could get hit by a truck,” she said.

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Kloof and Highway SPCA manager Barbara Patrick said the bird most likely would have died had it not been rescued. “On examination, Inspector Ferguson found that a large plastic packet had been tightly wrapped around the hadeda’s leg, causing a small laceration. She suspected that the hadeda was exhausted from trying to fly and landed on the busy M13 freeway in peak-hour traffic.

“Inspector Ferguson immediately and carefully cut the plastic packet off the exhausted bird, cleaned the small wound and put the hadeda into a warm cage overnight, with food and water,” she said.
Patrick said the staff were pleased to see the hadeda doing much better in the morning, eagerly flapping its wings, ready to fly. “We sent it up to our vet for one last check-up, and we were then given the go-ahead to release it,” she said.