STORY: :: A Brazilian vet is searching for this heron
with a plastic cup lodged in its throat
::Jeferson Pires - Clinica Recuperacao Animais Selvagens - Universidade Estacio de Sa
::Isabelle de Loys
:: Jeferson Pires/Veterinarian /Estacio de Sa University
"The plastic cup will prevent the animal from feeding itself. So it will get weaker and weaker. She will probably try to eat, she may even be able to catch fish or any prey, but when she tries to swallow the food, it will hit the cup and probably return. As a result, she will weaken every day until her possible death. We believe this will probably happen in between 3 to 5 days."
::Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
:: Pires wants to capture the heron and perform
a life-saving surgery to remove the cup
Pires, a veterinarian and biologist at the Center for Wild Animals at Estacio de Sa University, first saw the heron days ago in a forested area on the west side of Rio de Janeiro, posting its situation on his social media platforms.
The heron will not be able to eat with a glass of this size horizontally placed at its throat, and is expected to gradually become weaker and die within three to five days of hunger, he said.
The veterinarian's plan to save the heron - identified as a Cocoi heron, one of the largest in Brazil - is to capture the animal once it is too weak to fly away, and perform surgery to remove the cup.
