LAKE GENEVA (NBC 26) — A marabou stork that made headlines across the region for weeks has a new home at Safari Lake Geneva in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
"Jungle" Jay Christie, owner and founder of Safari Lake Geneva, rescued the bird late Thursday evening.
"She surrendered without any resistance," Christie said. "She immediately settled into our quarantine facilities and is already a staff favorite. She is remarkably tame, by stork standards."
Maggie Christie, the park's director of conservation, also assisted in the rescue. She said marabou storks have one of the greatest wingspans of any bird alive today.
"It's unlikely she would have survived another month on the lam," Maggie Christie said, "given the number of reported near collisions with vehicular traffic. And, of course, she would never survive one of our winters."
While marabou storks are native to sub-Saharan Africa, the origin of this particular bird remains a mystery.
Safari Lake Geneva is Wisconsin and Chicagoland's only conservation park and has been helping save species around the world since 2016. The park is open daily, May through October, and online reservations are required.
Recently, the marabou stork was seen in some of our local neighborhoods.
You can read and watch Fond du Lac reporter Jack Porter's story here!
