A battered\u00a0falcon was transported hundreds of kilometres by multiple drivers after it was found seriously injured on a Canterbury highway.<\/p>\n
The battered k\u0101rearea\/New Zealand falcon is lucky to be alive after Tekapo woman Emilie\u00a0Marinissen\u00a0picked it up from State Highway 8, near Lake McGregor, a week ago.<\/p>\n
Marinissen\u00a0rang the Department of Conservation hotline to find out what she could do to help. What followed was a \u201cwhole of South Island falcon taxi\u201d as multiple drivers pitched in to get the bird to the K\u0101rearea Falcon Trust in Blenheim, which had an opening in their breeding programme and could offer a long-term home.<\/p>\n
DOC says Marinissen\u00a0did exactly the right thing, keeping the injured falcon calm in a dark box while she waited for DOC staff to collect it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was worried about the k\u0101rearea as it was clearly not well, and his eye was badly damaged,\u201d Marinissen\u00a0said.<\/p>\n
DOC principal ranger Dean Nelson said the falcon could have been clipped by a car or injured itself while hunting or looking for an easy meal of carrion on the road.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is where the ‘falcon taxi’ started as we rang two people who we knew were driving down to Twizel from Christchurch for a meeting on the kak\u012b\/black stilts. They were able to pick the injured bird and bring it here,” Nelson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI then phoned our local vet. He\u2019s Australian and has had a lot of experience with raptors. He assessed its eye and wings and advised it needed specialist help at the wildlife hospital in Dunedin.\u201d<\/p>\n
DOC staff then drove the k\u0101rearea to Dunedin, where staff determined it had a minor dislocation in its shoulder \u2013 an integral part of the bird\u2019s anatomy, essential for supporting its wings.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe worst damage was to its left eye,\u201d Nelson said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe vet\u2019s advice was it would be risky for it to be released back into the wild as they only hunt with their eyes and it probably wouldn\u2019t survive.\u201d<\/p>\n
A home was found at the Blenheim-based K\u0101rearea Falcon Trust which rehabilitates injured birds and had a place in its\u2019 breeding programme.<\/p>\n
Nelson then put out the word to out to South Island DOC staff for a \u201cbird taxi\u201d to transport the k\u0101rearea from Dunedin northward.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt really was like passing the parcel getting it to Timaru first and then transferring it over to Holly Turner who is the Manager of the K\u0101rearea Trust for the next leg to Blenheim,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n
Turner said the k\u0101rearea has settled in well and will receive ongoing treatment for his damaged eye until a final vet assessment.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnce we\u2019re confident his eye is stable, we hope to pair him up with one of our females,\u201d\u00a0Turner said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The trust has produced 87 chicks since its breeding programme began in 2013 and as well as caring for injured k\u0101rearea, they help boost wild populations of the falcon, classed as being at risk\/nationally endangered.<\/p>\n
Nelson says he\u2019s very touched at the collective effort to save the injured k\u0101rearea.<\/p>\n
\u201cFrom the local vet to the drivers who took the bird to Dunedin and then north and then of course Emilie from Takap\u014d – that\u2019s ‘community naturing’ caring for our native species. Now this lucky bird hopefully has a bright future.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
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