The beautiful jackal buzzard, a fairly large African bird of prey,.which was shot about two weeks ago, is recovering well .
The bird of prey, a female, was named Blaze by the concerned community after she was shot on Wednesday 18 February on a farm adjacent to Sonstraal Heights, presumably by someone from the neighbourhood.
The injured bird was taken to a veterinarian in Velddrif, where it was succesfully operated on on Thursday 19 February. Two small calibre bullets were removed.
Blaze is currently recovering at The Owl Orphanage, while her partner here in Durbanville, named Skye, is spotted flying around looking for his partner.
Follow-up visit
According to a resident, Gavin Marshall, who is in regular contact with the vets at The Owl Orphanage, the bird is recovery well. “After only one week her strapping has been removed so that she can gain mobility in her wing to avoid the joint seizing up. She is eating on her own and has finished her course of antibiotics. A good sign was that she started showing more aggression when being handled for administering of the medicine, which shows that she is regaining her strength and spirit. She has been moved to a bigger cage and is getting some sunshine.
“The next milestone is a follow-up visit to the veterinarian on 12 March for X-rays. If the wing bone has set the pin will be removed as well as the last piece of bullet shrapnel that they couldn’t get to during the first operation due to time limits.
“She will then go into medical observation for two or three days, after which she will be put into a flight enclosure. A final decision will be made based on how she copes with flying. Her strapping was taken off for a short while to get the joints moving, and she was doing well.”
Released in own territory
“We will only really know if she can fly once she has the pin and last piece of shrapnel removed. She is very settled and is not flapping around and the veterinarian is confident that she will be able to fly normally.
“If all goes well we hope that she will be released in early April. She will ideally be released back into her original territory, however there is a concern and need to first ensure that the authorities investigating the case have brought the investigation to a point where the shooter is no longer a risk for a repeat incident. Hopefully the investigators will conclude their investigations before this time frame and the shooter will have suffered the consequences of the law.
“Jacques Nel and his team at The Owl Orphanage do amazing work rescuing and rehabilitating injured birds and they are completely reliant on donations. Anyone donating would be helping to make a difference and can rest assured that the funds will be put to good use.”
Cases opened
According to Keith Dalby, chair of Sonstraal Heights Neighbourhood Watch, he was contacted by a concerned resident on Wednesday 18 February at about 08:10 saying that she had heard a gunshot. When she looked over her back wall, which borders Andrag farm (farm between Sonstraal Heights and Glengarry Shopping Centre), she saw the injured bird falling from a tree.
Dalby said a case has been opened with the City of Cape Town’s metro police, Cape Nature and with the stock theft unit of the police. “These investigations are underway and we cannot report on the progress made. We are leaving this matter to the authorities to investigate and resolve.”
More than R4 000 has been raised by residents for the veterinarian and rehabilitation costs in the first week after the incident.
- Anyone wishing to make a donation to the Owl Orphanage can send en email to gavin@accessdental.co.za for banking details.
