Here’s just a sample of the entanglements our volunteers have seen already this year – just one month into 2025! 🙁
We rescued a female darter who had cotton and fishing line wrapped around her beak, which was loosely attaching her head to fishing hooks in her neck and wing. The fishing line was wrapped around her neck and wings, meaning she couldn’t fly. She could still swim and dive quite well, so took our rescuers on a bit of chase in the kayak before we could finally net her under the water. According to locals who live in the marina she had been entangled for two days, and thankfully her body condition was still good. After removing the hooks (which were superficial) and line, had sure she was hydrated, allowed her to rest in the cool, dark crate for a couple of hours before releasing her back to the wild. A wonderful effort by rescuers Rach, Damo and Tai! Thank you!
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Another entanglement story with a happy ending was a pelican in Shoalwater that had a fishing lure entanglement. After a short stay at WA Wildlife and treatment, this very lucky pelican was able to be released back into the wild! Thank you to our fantastic rescue team – Brian, Sharon and Barbara!
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A white-faced heron was found trapped, its leg tangled in fishing line and tied to a tree. Our dedicated volunteer rescuer, Aaron, teamed up with volunteer firefighter, Sean, to save the bird. Using an extended pole saw, Sean carefully cut the branch while Aaron stood in the creek below, ready with his net to catch the heron safely. Sadly, after a thorough hospital assessment, it was discovered the bird had a dislocated coxofemoral joint that couldn’t be repaired 😞
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A little Pacific black duck with a fishing hook stuck in her beak was caught in Joondalup, disentangled and released by volunteers, Kathy and Billie. Thank you!
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A swan was reported by locals who noticed it struggling with a nasty fishing entanglement. When our rescuers arrived, they found the swan trapped in the reeds, unable to move, physically restrained by the tangled mess. While Ange carefully freed the swan and brought it to shore, Maddison waded through the water to retrieve metres upon metres of fishing line, along with other litter. This swan had a partner and cygnets to care for but was in such a terrible state that it had to be taken to the wildlife hospital. Shoutout to rescuer Sam who provided has hand to be chomped on while Craig and Ange worked on removing the hooks from this poor swan.
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It was a big team effort to rescue, rehab and release another pied oystercatcher with a nasty leg entanglement at Matilda Bay in Crawley. A member-of-public, Sue, reported the bird to us after noticing the bird limping and reviewing her photos. After going to check the situation and finding the bird with its mate, volunteer Sharon made a plan to go back early to attempt capture. After a 5 hour round trip and many hours in the heat, she was able to finally get in a position to use her net launcher as the bird was tiring in the heat. As the entanglement looked potentially nasty she took him to our colleagues at WA Wildlife where he was in care for about a week. Volunteers Sharon and Barbara were recently able to return him to his mate. Amazing to see them reunited and hopefully they will be together for a long time to come. Thanks to everyone involved with this beautiful bird’s rescue and care ❤️
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A cormorant was spotted in Port Coogee with a very nasty hook embedded in its chest. Luckily, volunteer Toby was able to catch this one and transport it to the Wildlife Hospital for treatment.
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Another cormorant that was found at Trigg Beach with a hook in its leg joint was taken to our friends at WA Wildlife.
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Kalamunda resident, Hayden, first reported an entangled wood duck to us on the 12th January. After many rescue attempts and several calls from concerned members of the public, we finally caught her! And just in the nick of time. Mrs duck still had circulation to her foot, so the entanglement was removed, antiseptic applied and she was set free. A big thank you to the local kids at the skatepark that helped our rescuer to disentangle the net. And thank you to Hayden and son for tracking down this duck before our rescuer arrived. An awesome school-holiday community rescue!
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A juvenile raven was stuck in a tree at Point Walter. Unfortunately, a 5m length of braided fishing line tangled up this fellow and its sibling. This little one was released right away (after the entanglement was removed) but, sadly, the other sibling’s leg was dislocated and we rushed it to a wildlife hospital.
For more details of the above rescues including photos, release videos and information about how you can help reduce all these entanglements, click here to connect with us on Facebook.