Hadeda Ibis
When it comes to wildlife rehabilitation one of the biggest expenses is food, in some cases it costs more to feed an animal whilst in the clinic than it does to treat it for its injuries. In addition, many of the animals that are admitted to rehabilitation centres aren't injured. They have lost there parents or been taken in as pets and need to be prepared for life back in the wild.
With your donations, you have helped to keep ReWild Rehabilitation Centres patients and 'tenants' tummys full whilst they are getting ready to be returned to the wild. There have been so many individuals through the clinic since we began this campaign, but the story of a Hadeda Ibis that was admitted to the centre about two months ago is one that we would like to share with you as it was such an unusual case.
It was seen sitting in someone’s yard, when he was still sitting quietly in the same place several hours later the homeowner contacted the centre. The poor bird, he was terribly thin and weak. His long beak and head were coated with what seemed to be dirty muddy water that had long since dried hard and matted his feathers. He squinted through swollen puss filled eyes. His chest gurgled with each heaving breath. What had happened to the poor bird? Best guess…he had stuck his head into some dirty water that contained a toxic substance and it had happened a while ago. Then the big questions; can we save him or would trying only prolong his agony, is euthanasia the kinder option? This is a difficult question we often face. To help answer that question we needed to know the toxin.
The homeowner was amazing in her investigation. She found out for us that an outdoor drain had got blocked, the drain cover had been removed and a drain cleaner product had been poured into the drain and the drain was left open for a short period. This happened about a week before the Hadeda Ibis’s rescue. The bird had been seen in the area several days prior his rescue, unable to fly, the people assumed he was a juvenile still learning to fly. We were pretty sure he had stuck his head into that open drain looking for frogs or anything else good to eat.
He had been in trouble for a long time. That meant he was strong, he was fighter, but was it too late to save him? Was there too much damage done? Would his eyes recover from the damage? The centre decided to begin treatment and monitor his response to treatment. Initially he had to be tube fed and spent almost all his time lying down fast asleep. Finally he was in a safe place, he could let his guard down and rest his exhausted body. Soon he started spending more time sitting up and started feeding himself. His eyes healed and regained their sparkle. Full recovery was now just a matter of time!
After a month of treatment, detox and getting his strength back he was ready for some time in the outdoor aviary. A couple of weeks in the aviary and he was ready to go home. At release he wasted no time getting airborne and flying up to perch in a nearby tree. He was back home fit and strong once again to live his life back where he belongs, in the wild!
Hadeda Ibis