Pretoria residents were out in their numbers on Saturday morning to take part in a 3km family fun walk around the Austin Roberts bird sanctuary.

The event was organised by the Friends of Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary to celebrate the day the sanctuary got its name on February 26, 1985 – 37 years ago.

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The event was held at the Blue Crane restaurant in Nieuw Muckleneuk from 08:00 to 10:00.

The chairperson of the Friends, Lourens Diederick, said this was the first family fun walk and that they plan to make it an annual event.

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He said the bird sanctuary was officially opened by the then-mayor of Pretoria, WJ Seymore, in 1956.

“Each entry in the 3km fun walk received a quality HDPE 500ml water bottle filled with clean water from the Aquas e Vida and a light meal takeaway from the restaurant,” said Diederick.

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The Birdlife Northern Gauteng also launched an Austin Roberts bird photo competition in which Hanner van der Berg, Antoinette Oelofsen and David Roberts walked with prizes.

He further said the Birdlife Northern Gauteng, the Friends of Austin Roberts Bird Sanctuary and Aqua e Vida also held a bird photo exhibition at the Blue Crane restaurant’s lapa.

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