Rare bird that survived 3,000-mile trip from Africa to Britain died after being mauled by cat

An "incredibly rare" bird has died after travelling thousands of miles from tropical Africa to Somerset then getting pounced on by a cat.

The wryneck is a rare summer visitor from sub-Saharan Africa, and was rescued from the paws of a cat in Burnham-on-Sea. It was taken to the Secret World animal rescue centre in East Huntspill, near Bridgwater, and despite the best efforts of staff there, it died last week.



"It is incredibly rare to see one here, and they spend a lot of time on the ground looking for ants, which is their main diet," explained Debbie O'Keefe, from Secret World. The sanctuary found ants for the bird to eat, but the trauma of the cat attack proved too much in the end. "He came in last Thursday and he had a few puncture wounds and was assessed by a vet.

"Nothing was broken but he didn't seem to want to fly and never really recovered. We tried to put him outside in an aviary and see if he'd move around a bit, but he didn't. We brought him back inside into an incubator, but unfortunately the next day he died. It's a real shame, but we tried our best. It's really sad because they are so rare on these shores."