Goliath heron becomes latest litter victim
After piles of litter washed down the uMngeni River over the weekend, a Goliath Heron was spotted with a knot of fishing line hanging from it's beak.
WHILE the recent heavy rains seemed to bring slight relief to the province’s water shortage, it also brought down a surge of litter along the uMngeni River.
Mountains of glass bottles, plastic, fishing line and pieces of polystyrene have piled up at the river mouth at Blue Lagoon. Then, today, the Northglen News spotted a Goliath Heron that appeared to have swallowed fishing line. A large knot could clearly be seen hanging from the bird’s beak.
This is the third report of a bird in the area being impacted by dumped fishing line. Last week, holiday maker, Colin Wessels, and his family rescued a distressed Hadeda whose legs had become tangled in the fishing line.
However, a Wolly-necked Stork, whose feet also got tangled in fishing line in May, was not so lucky. His body was found hanging from a tree in uMgeni after the line entangled the tree’s branch.
According to Bart Fokkens of the Duzi uMngeni Conservation Trust (DUCT), more than a hundred bags of litter had been collected and removed from the site in the past 24 hours.
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