Most of a flock of farmed ostriches that got free of their pen near the southern Alberta town of Taber have been rounded up, but not before grabbing their proverbial 15 minutes’ fame.
Taber-Vauxhall RCMP said in a release Thursday afternoon that they began receiving reports shortly before 8 a.m. that day of ostriches on the road in the area of Highway 36 and Township Road 94 just south of Taber, a town of about 9,000 people.
It was later found that “approximately 20” ostriches had got loose from their enclosure, RCMP said, adding that one of the birds “was hit and killed on the roadway.”
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Several of the flock made their way into Taber town limits, where a local retail worker, identified by Alberta media as Destiny Nanaquewetung, shot the now-viral video of RCMP vehicles attempting to cordon and capture one ostrich on the street.
The video shows a person riding in the passenger seat of a moving RCMP vehicle — later identified by RCMP as the birds’ owner — briefly reaching through the window to grab one of the ostriches at the neck in an attempt to capture it, before the bird wriggles free.
“Over the last several hours, RCMP have supported the farmer in locating and capturing the loose birds,” the Mounties said in their release Thursday.
Taber Police Service said on Facebook that its members “assisted the RCMP in confining the birds so the owners could safely capture them.” TPS said several of the birds that entered the community then headed back out of town, “where they created traffic hazards.”
As of about 12:30 p.m. Thursday, RCMP said in their release, “all but a couple” of the ostriches have been captured and the Mounties “continue to support the owner in locating and capturing the remainder.”
Town of Taber officials said Friday on Facebook the “majority of the ostriches made it home safe after some serious work by all the authorities involved.”
Videos and still photos from the chase were widespread on multiple social media networks Thursday, and town officials sought to capitalize on the social media attention by mounting a #FlightlessBirdsforFoodBanks challenge to encourage charitable donations.
In the midst of the ostrich-related memes from various social media users, Taber officials also took the opportunity Thursday to release an ad (see below) they said they’ve “legitimately had… in draft form for a few months” to encourage residents to volunteer for open spots on community boards.
Alberta was ground zero for the launch of ostrich farming in Canada in the late 1980s, as ranchers sought low-cost alternatives to beef cattle production, according to a 1999 report from Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada.
By 1999, however, prices for breeding stock were well off their peaks and markets for meat and other ostrich products remained underdeveloped, forcing existing producers to either specialize their operations or leave the industry, AAFC said at the time.
In Statistics Canada’s 1996 agriculture census, Alberta was home to 330 ostrich farms out of 788 across the country; by 2006, however, those numbers had declined to 23 out of 78 respectively. — Glacier FarmMedia Network
Updated, Nov. 25: Article updated with newer figures from StatCan.
(Town of Taber via Facebook)
