Queanbeyan, ACT firefighters use crane to rescue cockatoo: pictures

Queanbeyan firefighters worked with ACT Fire and Rescue to retrieve the injured bird about 9am.

The ACT’s crane and elevated platform equipment was used to reach the cocky, which had become trapped in fishing wire high in a tree near the Monaro Street bridge.

Queanbeyan Fire Station Officer Jason Murphy said the bird was too high for their equipment to reach, but the ACT crew was able to use the hydraulic vehicle to cut the cockatoo free.

Firefighters cut the fishing wire from the cockatoo’s leg, then handed it over to Wildcare for veterinary treatment.

Mr Murphy said firefighters were often called out to animal rescues, but most were domesticated.

“We do get a lot of calls for birds that have fishing lines caught in their legs,” he said.

“We’ve even caught snakes before and taken them from homes.”

Mr Murphy encouraged anglers to be mindful when disposing of fishing line, with Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council installing PVC pipes along the river front to discard old lines and tackle.

“We really do encourage people to use [the pipes] rather than regular bins,” he said.

The new bins were implemented by the council in March, and it wasn’t just for the sake of birds.

The elusive platypus were shown to be being affected by rubbish left on the river bank.

This was of particular concern as there were only an estimated 40-80 platypus downstream of Googong Dam.

Wildcare training officer Laurel Rosin said the cockatoo in question had been taken to the vet after the rescue. 

She said it was missing one of it’s claws from the fishing line ordeal.

“We felt it should have some sort of antibiotics before being released,” Ms Rosin said.

She said fishing line was a big problem for birds in the area, particularly magpies at this time of year.

“We get birds that have string around their feet, it happens quite a lot,” she said.

“It was a good thing the fire brigade was available for this lucky fellow,” she said.

“He only lost a toe. I think he could survive with one less.”