The rare migratory bird known as Osprey that flew over 9,624.8 km from Finland to Kenya has died.
The four year old bird died at the weekend while under the care of Kenya Wildlife Service veterinarians in Karen Nairobi.
A postmortem examination report conducted attributed the death to long term starvation which precipitated systemic organ failure.
"We regret to announce the death of the Osprey bird despite all efforts to rehabilitate it back into the wild," KWS Spokesman Paul Udoto said.
The bird was rescued by Walter Oloo on January 20 from the waters of Lake Kanyaboli in Siaya county.
It had been caught in a fishing net and was struggling to free itself. It got bruised in the process.
The bird was delivered to the KWS Veterinary Department on January 23. Apart from the bruises, the bird looked healthy.
However, it had lost some weight and looked dehydrated.
"By the time the bird was delivered to the city, it had been severely dehydrated, weak and emaciated from the long flight and minor injuries while trapped by the fishing net," Udoto said.
It weighed 950g against the normal range of 1.3-1.8kg weight of an adult osprey.
"We were feeding and treating the fish-eating bird back to good health with a plan to release it at the exact site it was rescued in the Lake Victoria catchment so that the bird does not lose its bearings on the return epic flight Northwards in early March."
The Osprey species is a diurnal, fish-eating bird of prey with a cosmopolitan range.
It is a large raptor, reaching more than 60cm in length and 180cm across the wings.
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