By Khalida Sarwari
A wild turkey named Pinky, who roamed around with an arrow lodged in his back for more than six weeks, was released back to the area of Don Castro Regional Park today after undergoing medical treatment Saturday.
The bird was freed this afternoon in a residential area near Castro Valley in unincorporated Alameda County, the same site where he was captured by rescuers on Friday.
Rebecca Dmytryk, who operates rescue nonprofit WildRescue with her husband Duane Titus, said that Pinky, who has a limp now, has much more mobility in his right leg after the procedure, which she said was touch-and-go. He is also able to run, which he had not done prior to the
removal of the arrow.
By a strange twist of fate, the very arrow that injured Pinky’s femur also saved his life, Dmytryk said. The vet and medical team that worked to remove the arrow found that while the arrow had fractured his femur, it had also acted as a splint and helped his leg bones fuse together.
“He probably would have been euthanized if the bone had not joined together,” Dmytryk said. “He was lucky.”
Pinky was unconscious and barely reacted throughout the procedure, which lasted a couple of hours at the International Bird Rescue Research Center in Cordelia, Dmytryk said. Prior to the procedure, he was under “tremendous stress being handled by humans” during captivity, she said.
“The good part is that he will be more wary of humans in the future,” Dmytryk said. “Captivity is no place for these guys.”
Dmytryk said that prey species like Pinky can do more harm to themselves in captivity because they perceive human beings as predators and are built to seek escape.
Dmytryk estimated the cost of Pinky’s rescue and medical treatment at about $800.
