Are Your Hazard Lights Flashing?

Many of our black cockatoos come to grief on the side of the roads, feeding and drinking. Because they are such a big bird, they face into and take off into the wind – which sometimes means they fly into traffic instead of away from it.

Let’s have a campaign of warning other drivers that the birds are there and get them to slow down as they go by. If you see the cockies on the side of the road ahead of you, put your warning flashing lights on.  As you approach the group of birds, slow down a little.  This will alert drivers ahead and behind who are approaching the group of birds to be mindful of them and take care to watch out for them flying off.

One Black Cockatoo carer wrote this on her Facebook page:

Crap, this is what I hate…well meaning rescuer keeps a black cocky for over a week after it is hit by a car “It had a bad head wound but its come good, I think its better that you release it. It’s been in a small cage but I think it can fly, it flutters about when other birds come near it”.

F#*K…in what state will this bird come to me in tomorrow morning? In person will she listen to me when I say the best chance a bird has at survival depends not only on severity of injury, but also on how quickly it comes to a qualified carer who can get it to the zoo?

Please let this be a healthy bird, minor injuries that the zoo find have healed correctly, meaning release, not over a week old fractures that are now infected and already healing incorrectly with internal bleeding and a suffering Black Cockatoo :’( I just can’t cope with more of that….and having to deal with a well meaning person who has prolonged the suffering of an animal.”

What Kaarakin has found in the past, is that people hang onto the birds until they think that it’s about to die. Then panic! Call the cockatoo rescue people who drop everything to go and pick it up and run it to the zoo, just for it to be euthanized.  They did a trip out to Gidgegannup just like that, the woman had held onto this poor bird for about a week. She was also very hazy about where it had been found (which makes them suspicious). 3 hour round trip for a poor bird that ended up being euthanized. God knows how much pain and stress that bird had gone through in the meantime. She had it in a cage, uncovered, out near the front of the house, by the drive.

(c) Leighton De Barros

 

 

Not all the stories are sad – many have very happy endings. Recently NINE Carnaby’s black cockatoos that had passed through Louise Hopper’s loving hands on their way through rehabilitation at Kaarakin and are about to fly free, we say “Good luck, it’s been an absolute pleasure.
To the bonded couple….we hope you find a nest hollow suitable for you and your future chick.To all the Kaarakin volunteers…be proud and enjoy the moment!”