Sweetie

As a young bird, Sweetie was found by a member of the public looking unwell. DOC rangers came and found him and sent him off to the wildlife hospital in Christchurch where it was found he had extremely high lead levels in his blood. Lead poisoning is unfortunately very common for kea and results in neurological and reproductive issues, and eventually death if not treated. Luckily for Sweetie, he was found just in time and was able to be treated with chelation to remove the lead from his blood and was then released back into the wild to be free with all of his old friends. He was named by one of the Air New Zealand staff, who said he was just "such a sweetie!"