Trevor's Wild Rescue

Rescue Officer Sellena recently had a call out to Warner Lakes in Warner about a swan that had fishing line hanging from its mouth. The 1300 ANIMAL caller was concerned there could have been a hook in its mouth or may have ingested one.. Volunteer Bob and Sellena headed out and upon arrival, David (caller’s husband) helped direct the team to the swan for rescue.

Rescue officer Sellena explains, “We managed to locate the male on his nest whilst his partner swam around the lake . We were able to get within 2 metres of him and on closer inspection, we were able to see the fishing line coming from his mouth and it appeared to be tightly snagged to the reeds.”

On closer inspection, Trevor also had blood coming from his mouth and the fishing line had manage to dislodge when the net was placed over his head. Sellena then went back to the nest once Trevor was in the Animal Ambulance to retrieve the rest of the fishing line tangled throughout the reeds. Trevor was transported back to our RSPCA Wildlife Hospital in Brisbane.

Our wildlife vets checked over Trevor. Luckily X-rays showed no hooks had been ingested but Trevor did have a deep abscess from a hook injury in his beak. Trevor had surgery to remove the hook and spent some time at Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue for rehabilitation and preparation for release back into the wild. After Trevor completed his course of antibiotics, he came back into our Wildlife Hospital for a final vet check.

Trevor fully recovered from his injuries and was able to be released on Monday. Sellena met volunteer wildlife animal ambulance driver Penny at Warner Lake to release Trevor. They also met 1300 ANIMAL caller Lynn and David at the lake so they could see him off. Here is Trevor’s amazing footage of his release and reunion with his mate.

If you see sick or injured animals in need of assistance please call our 24/7 Animal Emergency Hotline 1300 ANIMAL (1300 264 625). Find out more about our Animal Ambulance.