Vets help heron that swallowed plastic cup | ABS-CBN News

Brazilian veterinarians released on Sunday (December 15) a rescued heron that had been spotted earlier this month with a cup lodged in its throat in Rio de Janeiro, bringing to a close a race against time to save one bird's life from plastic pollution. As the cage was opened the bird hesitated for just a moment before opening its wings and flying over a river in Recreio dos Bandeirantes. "God willing, she won't find any plastic or cups on her way," said Jeferson Pires, a veterinary and biologist at the center for wild animals at Estacio college who first sighted the bird earlier this month. The cup made the bird unable to feed, Pires told Reuters, but while the bird was found with lesions on its neck on Friday (December 13), it was just a bit underweight. Identified as a Cocoi heron (Ardea cocoi) - the largest species of herons in Latin America that is closely related to the great blue heron - the bird had a 200-milimeter (6.7-ounce) cup of a popular guarana drink stuck on its neck. To some Rio residents, the heron is a symbol of how plastic pollution has gotten out of control in the city of 6.2 million people. "What we saw today through this heron, over these two weeks, is how much these animals are impacted by plastic," said environmentalist Isabelle de Loys after the bird was freed. (Production: Sergio Queiroz, Nina Lopez) For more ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmgUHWUpi2ioSp4xAP1SmAaf For more latest news and analysis from ABS-CBN News videos, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmg4pcvfM9a96rbUcLD_0P_U For more News Digital News Raw Cuts, click the link below: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLgyY1WylJUmi83yKJH8Dv0p_3D4cyZKzV Subscribe to the ABS-CBN News channel! - http://bit.ly/TheABSCBNNews Watch the full episodes of TV Patrol on iWantTFC: http://bit.ly/TVPatrol-iWantTFC Visit our website at http://news.abs-cbn.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/abscbnNEWS Twitter: https://twitter.com/abscbnnews #ABSCBN #LatestNews #ABSCBNNews