Wildlife officials are on a frantic search to find a heron after a veterinarian spotted the bird in a heartbreaking predicament in Brazil. It appears that the bird has a plastic cup stuck in its throat.
Jeferson Pires, a veterinarian and biologist, spotted the bird while driving in Rio de Janeiro. He managed to approach the heron, but it ended up flying away. The veterinarian wrote about the animal on social media.
"This is the result of the irresponsibility of people who dispose of their trash incorrectly and throw it in irregular places, even though it is a large city that has a garbage collection system," he wrote in a post on his Instagram account. "Of course, reducing the use of plastic could also reduce the chance of this happening, but unfortunately people still do not care that much about our environment and believe that this happens far from where they live."
The veterinarian questioned how long the heron could survive like that. He believed that it swallowed the plastic cup on the same day that he encountered it. Thus, officials are on a hunt to find and save the heron, believing it can only survive a few more days.
Search For Heron
"If he was fed, I believe he would survive for about five days," Pires said.
It's not the first time that Pires has come across an animal in need like this. He previously removed the head of a Peppa Pig toy from the stomach of an alligator.
"It is worth remembering that the ones that come to my care must not be one hundredth of those that are really affected," he wrote. "Most of them become isolated and die without anyone being able to rescue them. A slow and painful death that affects millions of animals around the world, every day."
So far, they've been unable to find the heron. They've searched for two days, but the brush and trees have made it difficult to find the animal. The vet fears that the heron may end up lunch for another animal.
"Wild animals hide their pain a lot, otherwise they end up being quickly preyed upon," he explained. "I have never had a case like this in my 20 years treating these animals."
