A rare migratory bird that recently flew a distance of 6948 kilometres from Finland to land in Siaya County has died.
A statement by the Kenya Wildlife Services (KWS) indicates that the bird known as Osprey died over the weekend while under the care of KWS veterinaries.
The team attributed the four-year-old bird’s death to “long term starvation which precipitated systemic organs failure”.
The raptor bird was rescued last week in West Imbo location, Usalu village in Siaya County by a local identified as Walter Oloo.
Oloo spotted the bird trapped in a fishing net and reported the discovery at KWS offices in Siaya County on January 20.
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The bird was brought to the KWS Veterinary Department in Nairobi and later transferred to the Raptor Rehabilitation Centre where it died.
“By the time the bird was delivered to the city, it had been severely dehydrated, weak and emaciated from the long flight and minor injuries while trapped by the fishing net, ” a statement by Paul Oduto, KWS Director General, reads.
According to KWS, the bird weighed 950 grams against the normal range of 1.3-1.8kg weight of an adult osprey.
KWS had plans to release the fish-eating bird, which was ringed in Finland in June 2017, after medical care.
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“We were feeding and treating the fish-eating bird back to good health with a plan to release it at the exact site it was rescued in the Lake Victoria catchment so that the bird does not lose its bearings on the return epic flight Northwards in early March, ” the statement adds.
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