One man's mission to save injured birds in Nairobi

DW (English)

In Kenya, birds often get caught in telephone wires or poisoned by food people give them out of good intentions. But there are few rehabilitation centers. One man in Nairobi has made it his mission to rescue them.

Transcript

00:01Meet the Birdman of Nairobi.

00:08Rogers Olu Maguta, once homeless,

00:10now shares his home with a flock of birds

00:12that he rescued around the city.

00:16Maguta did not study conservation

00:18or know a lot about birds,

00:20but living near Lake Nakuru National Park

00:22sparked his interest.

00:25So at my leisure time I used to sneak inside

00:27so to see the birds, to watch the water.

00:30So that's when my passion of

00:33rescuing and taking care of the birds started.

00:36Maguta says he has since rescued

00:38more than 20 species of birds

00:40and nursed them back to health.

00:42They were often injured or undernourished.

00:45I've rescued the black kites,

00:47I've rescued the crows, the African pied crow,

00:50I've rescued the owl, the barn owl.

00:52I've rescued the marabou stock and the pigeons.

00:57Birds in this area face many threats to their survival.

01:00Habitat loss, disease and injuries from traps

01:03or telephone wires occur frequently.

01:06But there are only a few rehabilitation centres

01:09that can help wildlife in danger.

01:14Conservationist and bird watcher Paul Gacheru

01:16agrees that there is a critical shortage.

01:18In Nairobi we only have one rehab centre for birds,

01:22which is in Karen.

01:24There is the animal orphanage,

01:26which is looking at many mammals and large mammals

01:30which are taken to the animal orphanage

01:32which is managed by Kenyawa Life Service.

01:34And you have another rehab centre,

01:35which is in Ivasha and Soisambu for birds.

01:39Saving the birds is no easy feat for Maguta.

01:42He has to find enough food for them to eat

01:45and enough space to shelter and recover.

01:47Even when he succeeds, people accuse him of sorcery.

01:52Most of the people, when they see me with these birds,

01:55they think that I'm using supernatural powers.

01:57Yeah, so most of them, they think that I'm a sorcerer,

02:01I'm practising witchcraft.

02:04Maguta's new hope is to open an official shelter

02:07so that he can help more birds get back to where they belong

02:10in the skies of Nairobi.

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended