Petey Updates
Dec 2nd, 2009
Well, Petey is definitely bringing more attention to the clinic as proven by more and more people coming in to visit him. The local newspaper wants us to call if we plan on trying a release any time soon and would like us to update them. We're also having a few problems with the X-ray machine so we haven't yet been able to rule out lead poisoning. Meanwhile Petey has stopped eating and is still underweight.
Dec 10th, 2009
We finally got the x-ray machine working and have now x-rayed Petey to find out that there is nothing inside that may be the cause of poison and we have also found that Petey is in fact a girl. In the past few days we have also been in contact with a local, Gerald McCormack of Cook Islands Biodiversity and National Heritage, who has been trying to find a way for Petey to go to New Zealand to get the care she needs there, but he has hit a brick wall (figuratively speaking) as a bird like this has never been imported into NZ. However, getting in touch with someone who looks after albatross and other Great Petrels in New Zealand, Gerald has informed us that when being released it is a good idea to release from either a cliff or from the middle of the ocean on a windy day. Since there are no suitable cliffs in Rarotonga we are going to try and release Petey into the ocean after feeding her full for a couple of days. We are told that Petey may sit around for up to two days before he takes off but we are assured that someone will check up on her if she doesn't fly away over the following days.
Well, Petey is definitely bringing more attention to the clinic as proven by more and more people coming in to visit him. The local newspaper wants us to call if we plan on trying a release any time soon and would like us to update them. We're also having a few problems with the X-ray machine so we haven't yet been able to rule out lead poisoning. Meanwhile Petey has stopped eating and is still underweight.
Dec 10th, 2009
We finally got the x-ray machine working and have now x-rayed Petey to find out that there is nothing inside that may be the cause of poison and we have also found that Petey is in fact a girl. In the past few days we have also been in contact with a local, Gerald McCormack of Cook Islands Biodiversity and National Heritage, who has been trying to find a way for Petey to go to New Zealand to get the care she needs there, but he has hit a brick wall (figuratively speaking) as a bird like this has never been imported into NZ. However, getting in touch with someone who looks after albatross and other Great Petrels in New Zealand, Gerald has informed us that when being released it is a good idea to release from either a cliff or from the middle of the ocean on a windy day. Since there are no suitable cliffs in Rarotonga we are going to try and release Petey into the ocean after feeding her full for a couple of days. We are told that Petey may sit around for up to two days before he takes off but we are assured that someone will check up on her if she doesn't fly away over the following days.
posted by tumbleweed at
2:51 PM
