Keely Goodall6 March 2025 | 9:39

UrbanWild Conservation saves pigeon with dart through its brain

UrbanWild Conservation has saved a speckled pigeon that had been shot in the head by a dart.

UrbanWild Conservation saves pigeon with dart through its brain

FILE: An X-ray of a pigeon that had been shot with a dart. Picture: UrbanWild Conservation/Facebook

CapeTalk’s Clarence Ford speaks with Barbara Friedman about this and other stories trending online.

Listen below (skip to 05:20 for this one):

UrbanWild Conservation, a wildlife rehabilitation facility in the Western Cape, received a call about a speckled pigeon with a dart through its head.

They say the pigeon had clearly been intentionally shot in an act of cruelty.

“Yes those speckled pigeons are a dime a dozen… but this is not a way to behave.”
– Barbara Friedman, Digital Content Editor

They rushed to the scene and were able to stabilise the bird for emergency surgery.

“They were worried that they wouldn't be able to operate on it because of resource issues, but then some people donated money.” 
– Barbara Friedman, Digital Content Editor

Amazingly, the bird survived and is awake and alert.

They say it is ‘nothing short of a miracle’ that this bird survived several days with an old rusty dart through its brain.

Scroll up to the audio player for more.