BASAI, INDIA — A bird in India with its beak clamped shut by a plastic ring was fortunately rescued by Indian birdwatchers who feared it would starve to death.<br /><br />Reported by The Times of India, the stork was rescued about 9 a.m. on Wednesday in Basai wetland, a suburb of India's capital.<br /><br />Luckily, the bird was rescued by birdwatchers and wildlife officials and was taken to a bird sanctuary for treatment. Surprisingly, the dehydrated bird was nibbling on a small fish and is in good condition despite living without food for at least seven days. <br /><br />Black-necked storks are classified as "near-threatened" on the Red List of threatened animals and are native to parts of India, Indonesia and Sri Lanka. But only 50-60 of the birds are found in the wetlands region outside Delhi.<br /><br />When the photo of the stork with its beak shut by the plastic ring emerged on the internet this week, it immediately captured attention from around the world. <br /><br />Pankaj Gupta, a bird watcher and member of the Delhi Bird Foundation, who was involved in the rescue mission said the plastic ring could have come from a bottle or can, and is likely to have slipped onto the bird's beak when it was hunting in the water, and then got stuck there.<br /><br />The stork is currently being looked after by officials of the Sultanpur National Park and bird sanctuary, they will put it back into its natural habitat once it's deemed fit. <br /><br />The BBC reported that environmentalists in India want the Basai area to be protected and are hoping to build a factory there to deal with the recycling construction waste.
