In a heartwarming tale of survival and resilience, Gulliver the seagull has embarked on an extraordinary journey from a rubbish bin in Paisley to the sun kissed beaches of Morocco.
The Lesser Black-Backed Gull’s adventure began in May last year when a passerby heard its pitiful cries from inside a rubbish bin in a residential street in Paisley where it was trapped.
After an urgent call to our helpline, one of our animal rescue officers managed to free Gulliver and then transported it to our National Wildlife Rescue Centre in Fishcross.
Severely underweight in a distressed and dishevelled state the bird arrived weighing only 645 grams – 20 % less than it should have.
Dedicated staff then provided round the clock care for Gulliver, including multiple washes that restored its feathers to pristine condition and feeding it back up to optimal health.
After two weeks of care and rehabilitation it was deemed fit for release and licenced staff fitted metal and plastic rings in the hope of tracking its progress.
Now centre staff have been delighted to receive the incredible news that a birdwatcher has found it sunning itself on Agadir Beach in Morocco.
Senior Veterinary Surgeon Liam Reid from the National Wildlife Rescue Centre says: “It was incredible to find out Gulliver was doing so well nearly 200 days after his release.
“Where possible we ring birds prior to release. This gives us a passive form of post-release monitoring and we get a lot of good data back from this.”
Our latest report shows that wildlife is being rescued and released to thrive in the wild faster than ever thanks to improved ways of working and rehabilitation techniques.
In 2024 alone the charity released 2,562 animals back into the wild.
Liam added; “The success of Gulliver’s rehabilitation and release clearly shows the long-term effects of our hard work and that what we do makes a lasting difference to these animals.
“It’s so uplifting to see the animals we release back into the wild can go on to not just survive but thrive and in Gulliver’s case migrate as normal.”
Photo credit of Gulliver in Morrocco – SSPCA/Rolf Hort
Photo credit – SSPCA
