RACE TO SAVE OIL VICTIMS

LIMA: The battle to save rare sea birds after a major oil spill in Peru is being fought with hand-fed fish and gentle yet rigorous baths at the Parque de Las Leyendas zoo in Lima.

With oil on their wings, birds cannot fly or feed, and they lose the insulation they need to keep warm. Even birds not directly contaminated with crude fell ill or died after eating fish that were.

“Many of them arrived in very bad condition, which makes it difficult for us to handle them,” said Giovanna Yepez, one of the rescuers.

The spill, described as an “ecological disaster”, happened when a tanker was unloading oil at a refinery off Peru’s coast and was hit by freak waves triggered by the Tonga tsunami.

The slick was dragged by ocean currents about 140km north of the refinery, killing countless fish and birds and polluting tourist beaches.