The animals speak/Three white pelicans

The wings of the pelicans


« more permanent measures may be enacted. The most common such method is known as pinioning. Typically performed on young birds, it entails the amputation of the third and fourth metacarpal bones and those attached to them. The cut is made below the radius and ulna and the alula or so-called bastard wing. The analogous bones in humans are in the hands. In birds, these bones support the flight feathers. If one is disabled, the bird cannot balance well enough to fly. Pinioning typically occurs when birds are several days old, when the bone is still developing and the tissue is not yet densely filled with blood vessels. Particularly with smaller waterfowl such as ducks and geese and with guinea fowl and peafowl, it is performed with no anaesthetic and the wound is left open to heal.

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With larger birds such as cranes and flamingos, the surgery is more complex and involves first opening the skin of the wing and then slicing through the bone, after which the skin is sutured over the stump. Practitioners claim that healing is relatively rapid and that long-term effects are negligible on young birds. Older birds are more traumatized and may succumb to shock.

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As Bjarne Klausen, vice director of Odense Zoo in Denmark, points out, this relict process is the among the few remaining forms of animal mutilation still practiced by reputable zoos. » Richard Pallardy, The pinioning of captive birds, 2012