African stork in Wisconsin captured, Safari Lake Geneva says
LAKE GENEVA, Wis. - A marabou stork, native to Africa but presumed to have escaped captivity before being spotted across northeast Wisconsin in recent weeks, has been captured, Safari Lake Geneva announced on Friday.
Wisconsin stork captured
What we know:
Jay Christie, Safari Lake Geneva's owner and founder, said he and his team rescued the marabou stork late Thursday after it "surrendered without any resistance." He did not say where, exactly, it was found.
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"She surrendered without any resistance," Christie said in a news release. "She immediately settled into our quarantine facilities and is already a staff favorite. She is remarkably tame, by stork standards."
"It's unlikely she would have survived another month on the lam," Maggie Christie, Safari Lake Geneva's director of conservation, said in the release. "Given the number of reported near collisions with vehicular traffic. And, of course, she would never survive one of our winters."
What we don't know:
Safari Lake Geneva didn't say what will happen to the stork once its quarantine is completed.
Where was the stork?
Local perspective:
According to WLUK-TV, there had been several reported marabou stork sightings earlier this month. That included in Fond du Lac, near Park and Merrill, as well as in Appleton, Green Bay and Sheboygan.
Steven Thompson shared photos of the stork with FOX6 News. He said he took the photos in Sheboygan on May 8, but would not share an exact location, and said the bird was eating, drinking and flying – apparently OK.
At this time, it's not clear where the stork was when it was captured.
What is a marabou stork?
The backstory:
Marabou storks, native to sub-Saharan Africa, have an "extremely large range," according to SeaWorld. They inhabit savannas, grasslands, swamps and areas where fish are concentrated.
The Phoenix Zoo said marabou storks stand up to 5 feet tall and weigh nearly 20 pounds with typical wingspans up to 9 feet, though wider wingspans have been reported.
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For comparison, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources said sandhill cranes – one of the largest birds native to Wisconsin – can grow up to 5 feet tall with wingspans up to seven feet.
Marabou storks can live up to 20 years in captivity, SeaWorld noted. It's unknown how long they can live in the wild, though Safari Lake Geneva noted Wisconsin's winter weather and potential conflicts with traffic as factors that could limit the bird's ability to survive here.
As scavengers, marabou storks' diets primarily consists of carrion – fish, some insects, small reptiles, rodents and even other birds.
Where did the stork come from?
Dig deeper:
It's not clear where the stork came from, but Thompson has his suspicions. Based on its description and two bands on its left leg – which lack information – he believes it could be a bird that escaped captivity in Indiana in October 2023.
Safari Lake Geneva also said the stork's origin "remains a mystery."
The Source: Information in this story is from Safari Lake Geneva, SeaWorld, the Phoenix Zoo, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, WLUK-TV and social media reports.