In Kerch they continue to save birds from fuel oil. There are not enough volunteers — we really need help!

Almost a month after the emergency, about 249 injured birds have already passed through our headquarters, 155 survived. Survival rate is 60-70%. Today we are sending five of them for rehabilitation to the Taigan Lion Park.say the volunteers.

Two girls with kind eyes lead us to one of the doors of the headquarters, on which hangs a sign: «Attention! Birds are afraid of loud noises! Please close the doors tightly, talk in a low voice.».

About a week ago, Daria and Natasha arrived in Kerch from Simferopol. They are studying to become veterinarians at the Agrotechnological Academy of the Crimean Federal University. V.I. Vernadsky, and during their holidays they decided to come to the aid of the birds in Kerch. The girls are at the headquarters around the clock.

It’s safer this way, because the birds are brought in mostly at night. They need to insert a probe, give sorbents immediately after they are washed, and this is another plus two hours. It is necessary to assess the condition of each bird, put it in place, install heating pads, monitor it: some are very heavy, you need to stand up to themsay future veterinarians.

We quietly go to the birds together. Three great grebes and two loons look cheerful: they are ready to spread their clean wings again, they eat fresh fish with pleasure, and they behave quite actively. They had already been bathed and given medicine.

There are sheets of paper on the wall with notes on each bird: when and what time they were brought, with what percentage of contamination, what they are treated with, what their condition is.

Every day an experienced local veterinarian comes here and examines the birds. The headquarters constantly consults with ornithologists from other regions, with specialists from the Taigan lion park. Treatment protocols may change.

In world practice, if a bird has more than 50% contamination, it is euthanized. We fight for every last one. We keep them with us for up to three or four days, and only when we see that they can endure the journey, we send them to Taigan.— said the students.

Since the opening of the headquarters, other birds have been brought here to save. One of the volunteers’ favorites is the grebes, and there was also a cormorant, which people at headquarters talk about with a smile.

A large and very strong bird. Some heroic person caught him — he should be given a medal because he was able to do it. But no one responds“, jokes another volunteer of the headquarters, Tatyana, who is involved in catching the injured birds.

She is also new here and also helps bathe the birds.

We bathed a cormorant — it was tough. He pecked the man, then drove everyone away, stood on the basin and opened his wings. We admired how beautiful he was. He was sent to “Taigan”, from where they sent us a video: he built everyone there, he sits alone under the lamp, and everyone is around him,” Tatyana smiles.

She admits that her happiest moment is when the birds happily swim, dive, and fish again.

All work is carried out in special clothing, respirators, and gloves have to be constantly changed. They use starch, a detergent that dissolves fat.

It is more convenient when three people wash one bird: one holds the body, the other the head, so that starch does not get in and clog the breath, the third puts drops in the eyes, opens the beak to pull out the fuel oil.says the volunteer.

The Kerch headquarters exchanges humanitarian aid and things with other areas of Crimea, regions, depending on who needs what. They have created common groups and chats.

Now there are not many birds coming in compared to the first days after the emergency with tankers. The worst night, according to volunteers, was the night when about 30 birds were brought in. And to wash just one bird, you need at least two people.

We don’t have enough people to help with this. It’s very difficult. In addition, we are located far from the city center, and we have to work at night; not everyone has a car. There are not enough veterinarians — Dasha and Natasha will soon leave to study, women with medical education will come, — they say at the headquarters and ask caring people to respond.

At the very beginning, they were helped by kind people from Krasnodar, who came here for all the New Year holidays. According to the volunteers, they took the biggest blow: they learned to wash the birds and give them injections. They brought medications, equipped the cages in the assembly hall with their own hands, and plan to come again to continue this work.

The administration of the city of Kerch also helps: hot lunches are organized for volunteers, fresh fish is provided for the birds, they help with the removal of wastewater and the transportation of birds to Taigan.

Now we have a decline in the affected birds: fuel oil is at the bottom. But we are preparing for a new wave in the spring, when the water warms up, oil products can rise, and there will be a large number of migratory birdsthey say at headquarters.

Therefore, new shelving and swimming pools are already being installed here and they hope that they will be able to assemble such a team of volunteers who can survive and save as many birds as possible.

In the meantime, five more birds went to rehabilitation in the Park of Lviv Taigan. The birds were placed in insulated boxes with slots for air flow, they were fixed in the car so that the Gagars and Chomgi safely endure the road.