EXCLUSIVE: Family are stunned when STORK wanders into their house after escaping from zoo more than 100 miles away
- The bird had flown away from a zoo over 100 miles away to the home in Cardiff
- Homeowner Robyn Dow had to contact the RSPCA to help remove the animal
- The bird, called Bryn, had escaped from Wild Zoological Park in Wolverhampton
A family who had left a door open to keep cool in the heat were stunned to find a giant stork had wandered into their house – then hissed at them menacingly when they approached.
The tall bird, which had flown away from a zoo over 100 miles away, then marched up their stairs and refused to leave.
They finally had to summon help from an experienced swan rescue volunteer who used armoured clothing to help him safely get the wading bird out of their house returning.
The tall bird, which had flown away from a zoo over 100 miles away, marched upstairs and refused to leave the property in Cardiff
Homeowner Robyn Dow from Cardiff was playing golf on Tuesday when she got a call from her 17 year old daughter, Becky, saying there was ‘a giant bird’ in their house
Mrs Dow, 59, who is retired, told Mail Online: ‘I was half way round the golf course when I got a call from my daughter saying there was a giant bird in the house. She described it as ‘like a pelican or something’
‘She said it had come in through an open door and now our dog was going crazy in the garden and the bird was in the house and wouldn’t leave. She’s gone upstairs and barricaded herself in her room.’
Becky, a sixth form student, said: ‘“It was massive and I wondered if I was really seeing what I was seeing….then I ran!’
Mrs Dow, a retired business systems analyst, continued: ‘I initially thought she was exaggerating as a bird in a room can seem much bigger than it is but then I asked a neighbour to look in and he confirmed it really was a very large bird so I raced home.
‘By this point the bird had walked up the stairs so my daughter was trapped in her room. We tried to usher or coax the bird downstairs but it was quite aggressive – hissing at us.’
Mrs Dow rang the council, the RSPCA and others before finally having the idea of contacting a local swan rescue voluntary service.
A local swan rescue volunteer donned protective gloves and clothing before managing to get blanket over the stork which subdued it enough to get it out of the house
Robyn Dow (pictured) had left the door open in the property amid high temperatures due to an ongoing heatwave
Their volunteer raced to them and donned protective gloves and clothing before managing to get blanket over the stork which subdued it enough to get it out of the house.
It was at this point they discover a tag on its leg that identified it as coming from a zoo 115 miles away, Wild Zoological Park in Wolverhampton.
The bird was three month old born a the zoo called Bryn – one of four who flew off at the weekend.
A zoo spokesman said: ‘We have the largest free flight bird show in the country. We fly a flock of 20 white storks: these 4 are the latest babies to join the flock. With the heat we have been experiencing they’ve gotten caught on thermals and then attacked by wild gulls pushing them off course.
‘Cardiff is the furthest any had gone. One ended up in Newport and The other two went to Worcester which is much closer to us.
‘All our free flying birds wear trackers, information bands and are microchipped so we were very pleased to have him back home very quickly thanks to swan rescue South Wales who were able to help us bring him home.’
Bryn is now back with the rest of the flock.
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