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December 10, 2002
Prestige Update
(Pontevedra, Spain - December 10, 2002)
Jay Holcomb, Director of International Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC) and the IFAW ER Team Leader, said, "This is what we have been waiting for since the first birds arrived. It is at last some good news in what has been a wildlife tragedy. Holcomb and members of IBRRC's specially trained oil spill response team has been in Spain since November 16th. They are currently caring for over 300 live birds, with more arriving daily.
"It has been difficult to find a location where the birds could be released because the whole coast in this part of Spain is getting oil washed ashore. In consultation with all the Spanish experts we have chosen this area of Portugal because it already has good colonies of birds and it is not too far for us to transport them."
About 40 birds will be loaded onto a truck at the center at 8am for a five-hour journey to Portugal where they will be released at Bahia de Setubal. It is necessary to take the birds so far away because the oil has affected the entire coastline of Galicia in northwest Spain.
The birds being released are razorbills, guillemots, puffins, loons, scoters and gulls, which are the first at the center to be successfully rehabilitated.
They are being released by the International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW www.ifaw.org) with the help of the local environment authority Xunta. The birds have been cared for at the main wildlife rehabilitation center for the crisis, which is being run in Pontevedra by IFAW's Emergency Relief Team.
Since the start of the crisis three weeks ago hundreds of birds have arrived at the center covered in oil and suffering from hypothermia and dehydration. The IFAW ER Team first stabilizes the birds with fluids and food fed by tube, and once they are strong enough they are washed and dried, before being put into recovery pools to regain their waterproofing. The center is currently caring for 334 birds.
The IFAW ER Team in Pontevedra has vets and wildlife rehabilitation experts from eight countries around the world and about 50 local volunteers.
Daily reports from the field are located IFAW's website at
More information about IBRRC and response team bios can be found at
www.ibrrc.org
Karen Benzel
PR/Media Relations
International Bird Rescue Research Center
831-622-7588 phone
www.ibrrc.org
Posted by Surfbirds at December 10, 2002 11:18 PM
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