The South African Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre sent out an alert after a few Sooty Terns, a coastal bird, have been found inland and in need of assistance.
South Africa (27 January 2021) – Animal welfare organisations are uniting and creating a network to get the lost Sooty Terns back to their native coastal lands. The birds have been swept inland due to Cyclone Eloise.
These coastal birds won’t thrive inland and need to be relocated back to the coast as soon as possible. Judy from the South African Wildlife Rehabilitation Centre is calling on the public to reach out if they spot these birds so they can be rescued, stabilised and returned to the coast.
“There have been a number of these sea / coastal Sooty Terns found in various places in South Africa over the past few days.
We can only assume their unusual inland appearance has something to do with the cyclone which bought hectic winds and dumped loads of rain over the eastern portion of our country.
The Sooty Terns with their pelagic activities will not cope well inland. We are part of a project networking across S.A. to collect any of these birds, check and stabilize them, and move them back to the Mozambique shores ASAP.
Please do NOT release these birds if found grounded. Call your closest rehab centre and arrange to get them into skilled care as a matter of urgency, please!”
You can reach out to Judy via Facebook should you wish to find a rescue centre closest to you.
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