The ruru was initially brought by the member of the community of Stratford to a local veterinarian clinic.
The vet anaesthetised the owl to take some x-rays and found the ulna and radius bones in the wing were fractured.
The vet knew that surgery was needed, so asked Wildbase Hospital at Massey to take on the case. The ruru was given strong pain relief, and the wing was bandaged by the referring vet before being transported to us at Wildbase Hospital in Palmerston North.
Surgery
For the surgery, we needed to prevent the fracture ends from moving and make sure they were near each other so the bone could heal quickly.
The bird only weighed 165g, so the bones in the wing were only millimetres wide. The best way to fix the wing was to place 1mm diameter metal pins inside of both bones.
After the surgery, the wing was bandaged and pain relief and anti-inflammatory medication was given. The surgical site was checked and cleaned daily.
The ruru was a perfect patient, leaving the bandage alone and eating well to help the bone heal.
Recovery
After three weeks, the bandage was removed. Daily gentle physiotherapy of the wing was started, since the wing hadn’t been moving for the past three weeks.
Two weeks later, x-rays were repeated, which showed the bone had healed enough to remove the metal pins.
The ruru was moved to the Wildbase Recovery Centre for rehabilitation in a large flight aviary. Here, the ruru was able to stretch out the wing and improve its flight fitness after more than a month in hospital.
After almost three months of rehabilitation, the ruru was assessed to be fit for release. The bird was taken back to Stratford and released at the location where it was found.
Contact Wildbase Hospital
If you find injured or sick native wildlife, contact us for help and advice.