Litter blamed for goose’s death

LITTER is believed to have caused the death of a young, male spur-winged goose that was found with a beer can lodged around its lower beak at the eManzimtoti bird sanctuary at the weekend. The goose was brought to the Centre for the Rehabilitation Of Wildlife (Crow) in Durban where it later died.

Crow clinic nurse, Kelly Wilyman, said the can had presumably been lodged around its beak for several weeks. Further, she said that apart from the fatal infection which had set in, the goose was slowly and painfully starving to death.

“The goose was suffering from a severe infection caused by lacerations to its beak. It was starving as a result of not being able to eat. There was sadly nothing the Crow clinic team could do to save the young bird’s life. This is just one of many (incidents) the team witnesses daily. It is a reminder of the devastating consequences caused by litter at the bird sanctuary. We were both saddened and frustrated by the completely unnecessary loss of life,” Wilyman said.

Crow marketing officer, Paul Hoyte, said litter was un- deniably a major problem in our city and one that Crow was urgently trying to address.

He said Crow was committed to raising awareness about the impact that litter is having. Hoyte is appealing to people to join them in the fight against such tragic and unnecessary loss. Crow intends embarking on environmental education and awareness programmes.