Half a kilo of rubber bands has killed a young stork found in Almerk. The animal ambulance took the weakened pup to the rehabilitation center in Zundert, but he died there before they could examine him. A large ball of rubber bands turned out to be stuck in his throat, which he mistook for worms.
The stork arrived at the rehabilitation center last Wednesday. “He was quite stressed and very weak, so we let him sit quietly in his cage for a while so he could recover,” says caretaker Annemarie Brosens. “We were supposed to examine him the next morning, but he was already dead by then.”
One of the animal caretakers then examined the stork and felt a hard lump in his throat. “She decided to see what was inside and a big hand full of rubber bands came out. A ball of 400 grams,” says Brosens. “Our first thought was, ‘Oh no, not again!’”
It is not the first time that they see this at the rehabilitation center in Zundert. Earlier this year, an adult stork with rubber bands in its stomach arrived at the shelter. But it did survive. “It happens at least once a year and I think that’s too much,” says Brosens.
It is suspected that the mother storks find the rubber bands in the street, mistake them for worms and feed their young with them. “Those young storks are hungry and trust their parents that it is edible. But those rubber bands get stuck in the esophagus and as a result other food can no longer enter.”
How the rubber bands end up in nature is difficult to say. “Everyone immediately blames the mail deliverers. Because they are often thicker elastics. But there are also hair elastics and elastics that are used at tree and tulip nurseries,” says Brosens. She hopes that people will at least become more aware of the danger when they throw rubber bands on the floor.
2023-08-15 12:51:57
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