When development and wildlife collide, the outcome often depends on who is willing to step in. This time, Gqeberha’s very own ‘snake man’ Mark Marshall did, and he saved the crows!
Eastern Cape, South Africa (05 January 2026) – Three years ago, in November, Mark from Sandula Conservation (practising nature conservation and specialising in reptile conservation) was called out to a newly built wind farm. One of the towers had to be dismantled, but it was housing a crow’s nest that had to be safely removed first.
It would be a considerable challenge getting the nest down from the tower – it was so high up that professional climbers had to be roped in – thankfully, the call was made and the rescue kicked off.
“Because of the international laws of climbing, a professional team had to be employed to remove the nest, guide ropes, carry container included.” shares Mark, recounting the experience on Facebook.
Once the crow’s nest was safely removed, five little eggs were discovered.
“The nest was removed and found to have 5 blue eggs in it. I just couldn’t destroy the eggs and took them home.” shares Mark.
As a conservationist who regularly steps in to rescue injured, displaced and vulnerable wildlife, Mark knew exactly what that decision meant. One egg was already broken, leaving four still viable. With no chance of the mother crow coming back, he sourced an incubator and committed to seeing the process through himself.
Mark became a crow mom.
“I managed to get an incubator and continued the incubation process as the mother would have done. After 2 weeks the first egg hatch, welcome to the world Fee. Then a few days later, Fi hatched, followed by Fo and Fum.” he shared.
Quickly, Mark’s busy life as a conservationist, nature educator and snake handler shifted to accommodate four vulnerable baby crows with giant names.
“I became a dedicated mom by taking these babies everywhere I went, schools, work, meetings etc just to keep to their feeding routine. Sleeping arrangements involved putting to bed after their final day feed, like 4 little children.” he shares.
As time passed, their eyes opened and their feathers began to grow.
“After 3 weeks their eyes opened and they must have been surprised to realize that their mom was not a beautiful black and white bird, ha ha.” jokes Mark.
Sadly, Fee, the first to hatch, began to show worrying signs and passed away soon after, despite Mark’s best efforts to nurse her back to health.
“Sad but I couldn’t let this unfortunate event prevent me from continuing with Fi Fo and Fum.”
It was a difficult loss, but one that couldn’t derail the responsibility that Mark had taken on. So he pushed on with the goal of eventually releasing the three remaining crows back to their natural habitat – the wild.
“After a few weeks they were becoming adventurous and started playing with everything in the room, great times because now they can go outside for some sun and get used to the outdoors. I first put them into a small outside aviary, just to get them used to the natural elements etc. They loved picking up stones and sticks to play with.”
These were all positive signs that they were developing properly.
“Eventually they were sleeping out at night in a large flight aviary. I started distancing myself from them because I was teaching them to be wild and not tame pets. I know they must return to the wild. After 8 months I took them to a great friend of mine who stays on a farm outside Joubertinia. She had an aviary surrounding her entire house (to prevent baboons from entering her house). This is the perfect cage for these crows. So Fi Fo and Fum were taken to their new home.”
After three months in their new digs, Fi, Fo and Fum were older, wiser, and ready for life outside the aviary. On release day, Mark paid them one last visit.
“This was bitter sweet because I knew that today was their release day. The doors of the cage were opened, I pictured that they would fly off into the horizon and do a flyby thank you, but this did not happen. They walked out the cage and were delighted to pick up and play with all the stones and sticks at their disposal. Only after a few days they became confident and flew around with the wild crows.”
They stuck around for a while longer before finally spreading their wings.
“I hear now that Fee has joined a wild crow and hardly ever comes back, Fo and Fum still return on a weekly basis. Crows are extremely intelligent and awesome birds, despite their menacing reputation…. It was a long but very rewarding experience.” shares Mark.
Conservation can be a really long game. One that demands commitment, expertise and time. It comes with heartbreak but also with hope. Thanks to Mark’s decision to save a bunch of tiny eggs from a nest on a tower that quite resembled a beanstalk, a family of crows are now flying wild and free.
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