White-chinned Petrel given second chance at life
Crow, along with the National Sea Rescue Institute, were able to release the White-chinned Petrel off the coast of Durban.
THE Centre for the Rehabilitation of Wildlife (Crow) has successfully released a White-chinned Petrel after the vulnerable seabird was discovered distressed on board a fishing trawler.
Also read: Crow rescues Crowned eagle from an attack by a murder of crows
The bird, believed to have been swept off course by a storm, was found in a box on a trawler that docked at Durban harbour. Starved and dehydrated, the bird was brought into Crow for emergency care.
Sue Anne Shutte, senior nurse at Crow, said the bird had no visible injuries when it was brought to the clinic but was dangerously underweight at just 900g — well below the average weight for a female of 1.23kg and male of 1.39kg. “We thought it might have swallowed a hook or ingested plastic, but x-rays did not show any signs of it. It was simply weak, dehydrated and starving,” she said.
The team stabilised the bird with fluid therapy. Shutte said the bird was initially fed easily digestible foods of squid three times a day, followed by sardines to gain weight. She added that the bird was given tons of liquids to rehydrate it. Within over a couple of weeks, the bird increasingly gained strength, ultimately to a healthy release weight of over 1.28kg.
On August 15, with the help of the National Sea Rescue Institute (NSRI), the White-chinned Petrel was set free into the wild off the coast of Durban.
Facts on the White-chinned Petrel:
- White-chinned Petrels are considered vulnerable globally by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and are highly threatened by following fishing vessels, whereby they can get caught in lines or eat baited hooks.
- They nest on remote islands such as the Crozet, Kerguelen and Prince Edward Islands and forage over extensive areas of the Southern Ocean, including the Benguela and Agulhas currents off South African coastlines.
Thanks to the efforts of Crow and the help of the NSRI, this White-chinned Petrel has been given a second opportunity at survival in the wild.
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