During the early evening of Monday 8 March . . .

. . . a driver from Ritchies Transport, Terry Dillon, discovered the Northern giant petrel fledgling in a paddock beside a Z truck stop, directly across the road from a Ritchies Transport Depot. After observing the giant petrel wasn’t well, Terry did the right thing by phoning DOC’s emergency hotline. The giant petrel was emaciated, weak and could not fly. It clearly required medical attention. We really appreciate Terry ensuring DOC was made aware about the bird. He gave the bird water and looked after it for about an hour and a half until I arrived. I cared for the bird overnight in Timaru, before arranging for another DOC ranger to drive the bird to the Dunedin Wildlife Hospital the next day. We look forward to being able to release it once it has fully recovered. Marcus Gibbs, Special Projects Communications Advisor, Department of Conservation