STORIES
25-01-2020 di Freddie del Curatolo
(photo courtesy)
I wonder if the Government of Kenya has a special visa in mind for him, too, who comes to Kenya every year for a few months before returning to his home in Helsinki, Finland.
Yes, because he flies for 45 days without paying any plane ticket and covers about 260 kilometers per day without the need for a passport.
He left the Scandinavian country before the end of the year, arrived in Bondo, on Lake Victoria a few days ago and was only discovered because he got caught in a fisherman's net during lunch.
We are talking about a osprey that had been put a particular ring with his "address" (but without satellite microchip in this case) in the right front paw in the Zoo of the Finnish capital in 2017, to monitor his movements during the winter migrations and eventually receive news from experts and enthusiasts who came in contact with him or photographed him. In fact, its origin was indicated by the inscription on the paw ring. It is no coincidence that it was found on Lake Victoria, in fact, the ospreys are used to nest near large ponds of fresh water.
So the Kenya Wildlife Service, once warned of the presence of the raptor in conditions of tiredness and malnutrition and with some bruises, probably caused by trying to get rid of the net, got in touch with an association that protects birds of this type and transported it to a treatment center in Karen, near Nairobi.
KWS communications manager Paul Udoto confirmed to the Standard newspaper that the osprey weighs 950 grams and is receiving appropriate treatment at the Raptor Center in Karen.
"It will be stabilized with the administration of liquids and an adequate diet (especially fish), so it will be monitored until it regains its weight," Udoto said.
The Helsinki Hawk's holiday would probably have gone on again, but at most to other lakes such as Lake Malawi. Although many stop in Kenya, especially on the sea at the mouth of rivers.
Just as tourists come to Kenya to enjoy the sun," explains Udoto, "ospreys, among other bird species, migrate to tropical countries in winter.
The Finnish bird will be released in March, so that it will be in shape for the start of the reverse migration.
"There are many birds that arrive in winter from Northern Europe to Africa, and especially to the Equator - explains Colin Jackson, naturalist and head of the foundation A Rocha Kenya - even at the mouth of the river Sabaki, near Malindi, you can admire several species. And there are many of them monitored with the paw ring, so we know with certainty that every year they make these very long journeys to avoid the cold or the rainy seasons. Not only in Scandinavia, some even go to the East, cross the Himalayas and are found in China".
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