The Wildlife Rescue Association is advising local food processing plants and restaurants to ensure that oil-based waste is properly sealed, after a flock of seagulls ended up trapped in a tofu vat last week.
The Burnaby-based association rescued 62 seagulls from an East Vancouver tofu professing plant, Superior Tofu, on Friday morning. The birds’ feathers were completely saturated with soybean pulp and are currently in the process of being individually washed to remove the oily residue.
“We’ve washed 19 (on Tuesday), and eight (yesterday),” said Yolanda Brooks, communication manager for Wildlife Rescue. “Once all the birds are washed and dried, they will go in small groups into our outdoor enclosures so they can preen their feathers until they become waterproof again.”
Last Friday’s incident is not the first time the Wildlife Rescue Association has had to care for birds that found themselves in sticky situations in the Lower Mainland, according to Brooks. In November 2014, she says the association rescued 17 gulls that were found caught in an open container of fish remains. In October of last year, Wildlife Rescue also recovered 16 oil-covered mallards from a polluted Surrey pond.
“(Processing plants) need to make sure any food scraps or food containers they have are secured not only from people, but from birds and bears as well,” Brooks said.
Brooks expects all the birds to make a full recovery and be released from the association's care, within the next two weeks.
