RIO DE JANEIRO: A seagull flew, spread its wings, over a river in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday after veterinarians removed a plastic cup attached to its neck and blocked its throat. Saved him from near death.
The mission to save the bird sparked an outcry over the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife in a city in Brazil known for its forested mountains overlooking a bustling metropolis by the sea.
As its cage opens, the emaciated heron hesitates for a moment before emerging and leaping into the air, its white-gray wings carrying it over the river in Rio’s Recreio dos Banderantes neighborhood.
“God willing, he won’t find any plastic or cups on the way,” said Jefferson Pires, a veterinary biologist at the Wildlife Center, who saw the unfortunate animal for the first time this month and posted about his condition on social media. Posted about
The logo of the popular 200ml (6.7-oz) guarana fruit flavored drink was clearly visible on the seagull’s throat before it was captured last Friday. The video shows him struggling in vain to pry the cup from his orange beak.
“What we saw today with this heron, in these two weeks, is how much these animals are affected by plastic,” said environmentalist Isabel de Luis after freeing the bird.
Pires said the blockage was preventing him from eating, and would probably lead to starvation without surgery in a few days.
The carnivorous heron was seen at one point vomiting up a fish that it could not swallow because of the cup. Pires said the wounds on the bird’s long neck were from unsuccessful attempts to eat, leaving it slightly underweight.
The heron became an environmental symbol after Pires’s initial posts. Her story garnered coverage from major Brazilian newspapers and broadcasters, and sparked online outrage over the damage caused by single-use plastic.
After the cup was surgically removed, Pires said he was eager to release the beautiful bird back into the wild.
“We don’t see any reason to hold it,” he said.
This bird, known to scientists as the cocoy heron, is closely related to the great blue heron, the largest species of heron found in Latin America.
With their habitat extending to Panama at the southern tip of South America, the birds weigh up to 3kg (7lbs) with a length of around 40cm (16in).