A second Amur Falcon roost was injured during a hail storm in Newcastle last night, but the FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation has rushed to care for them.
KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa – Massive hail storms have battered the province of KwaZulu-Natal over the last two weeks.
On the 9th of March, the FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation centre called in all their volunteers and went on standby after a massive hailstorm blew through the Mooi River area. The area is the roosting site for thousands of Amur Falcons.
Now, two weeks later a second storm has blown through, this time hitting Newcastle which is also an Amur Falcon roosting spot.
“We are heartbroken as the birds are very close to taking flight and setting off on their annual migration.”
After the previous hail storm took place in Mooiriver, a total of 1090 birds were treated by the FreeMe team. They worked non-stop to get the birds rehabilitated in time for their annual migration. Majority of the birds are healed and are back into the wild, only those with broken bones and wings were kept for treatment and will be released in November when all the Falcons return.
“Just as we thought the worst was over, a desperate plea came through in the early hours of this morning … the Amur falcon roost in Newcastle was hit by a hail storm last night.
While she and the team on the ground there, including the Newcastle SPCA, attend to the birds on the scene, two teams from FreeMe KZN are on their way to assist.”
The non-profit now need assistance more than ever as they are still trying to recover costs after the first round of rehabilitation. If you would like to assist FreeMe, you can join their Custodianship Programme here.
They will once again work to save as many birds as possible in time to release them for their migration.
Pictured above is a FreeMe KZN Rehabilitator, doing an assessment. Every single bird needs to be checked for breaks. Those that are injury free can be released, and those that have injuries need to be placed one side for long term care.
Just as we thought the worst was over, this desperate plea came through in the early hours of this morning…😟😟The Amur Falcon roost in Newcastle was hit by a hail storm last night. The voice you hear is that of Sylva Francis, a wildlife rehabilitator in Newcastle 😞While she and the team on the ground there, including the Newcastle SPCA, attend to the birds on the scene, two teams from FreeMe KZN are on their way to assist ❤️🦸♂️We will keep you all updated as we go…
Posted by FreeMe Wildlife Rehabilitation KZN on Friday, 22 March 2019
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