ROYAL OAK, MI – The Detroit Zoo has taken in a sandhill crane found with a rubber band wrapped so tightly around his lower beak that it cut off its blood supply and caused the beak to crack and break off.

Veterinarians also discovered buckshot in one of the bird’s legs. The incident serves as a reminder of the harmful effects of human-created pollution in the birds’ natural habitat, zoo officials said.

The bird, found badly injured in Commerce Township in September, will join two previously rescued cranes in the zoo’s American Grasslands habitat.

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Unable to eat on his own, it was determined the sandhill crane would die if returned to the wild. Zoo staff plan to develop a prosthetic beak for the bird. In the meantime, he has learned a new way to eat his special diet, something that he wouldn’t be able to do if released back into the wild.

“From his rescue in September, he has made such a transformation. He represents an iconic, native Michigan species and we can’t wait to see him join the two other sandhill cranes here at the Zoo,” said DZS Associate Curator of Birds Bonnie Van Dam.

One of the previously rescued cranes at the zoo was found as a chick in 2002 with a wing problem. Rescuers determined he would not survive in the wild. The second crane was rescued in 2015 with a badly injured wing. His injuries required amputation of the wing tip, leaving him unable to fly.

Some Michigan lawmakers have proposed a hunting season for sandhill crane, referring to the bird species as “ribeye in the sky.”

Detroit Zoo officials say they oppose that plan because “it could jeopardize the continued recovery of these birds, which are part of the natural ecosystem and popular with birdwatchers.”

Sandhill cranes were once at risk of extinction due to hunting, habitat loss and low reproduction rates.

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