Big rescue of Amur Falcons
FREEME Wildlife Rehabilitation KwaZulu-Natal believes the rescue of more than 1 000 Amur falcons injured during a hailstorm on Saturday, is one of the largest single-species rescues in South Africa.
The falcons, including a few redfooted falcons, were roosting in Mooi River in the Midlands when hailstones injured about 1 090 of them.
Wade Whitehead, the chief executive of FreeMe KZN centre, said a member of Nsele emergency services alerted them to the problem and Mooi River and district SPCA members transported the birds to Howick, where the centre is based.
The birds were treated and monitored, said Whitehead, before they were ready to be released in time for their migration in the next two weeks.
The birds originate from the Amur River which forms the border between Russia and north-eastern China.
“We have released and ringed 970 birds and we are hoping to release another 40 this week,” he said.
“We decided to release them directly from FreeMe to reduce stress and get as many strong birds out on the wing as fast as possible.”
Whitehead said the surgeries on six of the birds went well on Monday.
“We still have 88 birds in our care with broken wings which will stay over winter with us. They will only be able to make the migration when the falcons return in November for their next season in South Africa.”
According to Whitehead, 713 dead birds were brought in from the roosting site.
“They were all donated to the Durban Natural History Museum, University of KwaZulu-Natal and South African National Biodiversity Institute (Sanbi) for DNA, isotope analysis, gene pool analysis, further research and taxidermy,” he said.
Whitehead said he believed it was one of the biggest rescues of a single species.