By Ben
Collins
Updated 12
Feb 2019, 1:04am
The
second-known sighting of an Asian fairy pitta in Australia has ended
"tragically" with the endangered bird overshooting its migration
route and hitting a bar window in Broome before being killed by predator, with
bird-lovers saying a cat is the likely culprit.
Bruce
Greatwich, a conservation coordinator in Broome for the Western Australia Parks
and Wildlife Service, said it was a sad end to what had been a pretty rough
time for the bird in the north-west West Australian town of Broome.
"It's
really symbolic of the threats all of our native species face every day in
Australia," Mr Greatwich said.
The
colourful Asian bird was found unconscious outside a Broome bar last week.
It was
thought to have crashed into one of the bar's windows, temporarily stunning
itself.
"The
staff there at Matsos, where it had shown up, had just done the right thing and
they'd taken it into care and put it in a box," Mr Greatwich said.
The bird
was later released by the bar manager and seen feeding in the bar's garden over
the next two days.
But two
days after it was first sighted, the fairy pitta was found dead with bite marks
around its neck.
When Mr
Greatwich saw photos of the bird, which the bar staff had posted on Facebook,
he realised they had made an extraordinary find.
No comments:
Post a Comment