Toucan seen flying around Las Vegas is rescued after surviving in desert for months

A toucan that has been seen flying around Las Vegas for months has been saved, a bird rescue group said Wednesday.

“We’ve all just been so worried about him,” said Skye Marsh, the president and co-founder of the SouthWest Exotic Avian Rescue (SWEAR). “It’s a relief.”

“Sam is found!” the group wrote on social media on Wednesday.

Sam the toucan has been living in Las Vegas since November, much to the concern of bird experts and enthusiasts who were worried about the exotic bird’s health and his ability to survive long-term in a city with drastic weather changes.

“(The) little stinker decided it was time for help, and he flew into someone’s garage,” Marsh told The Associated Press. The homeowners knew who the toucan was and shut the garage so he couldn’t escape. Sam has captivated the Las Vegas community after surviving in the desert for months.

After the rescue group caught him, staff took him to a local veterinarian. There are some signs of “wear and tear,” such as dehydrated skin and a chip off his beak, but he seems to be OK, Marsh said. The veterinarian gave him fluids and took bloodwork.

Sam had been eating better food since the rescue group put out healthier toucan food around a cage to try to rescue him. Marsh said the better food improved his health, as his poop was looking healthier leading up to his rescue.

Sam’s owners, who had posted on social media about the bird’s escape from its cage in November, has not been in contact with the rescue group.

The toucan will be in quarantine at a staff member’s house for 30 to 45 days to make sure he does not have bird flu, which spreads to other birds at the rescue, Marsh said.

According to the San Diego Zoo, toucans typically spend their lives high in the rainforest canopies of Central and South America. They are primarily frugivores but are also known to eat insects, tree frogs and lizards.

Marsh told the Las Vegas Review-Journal that Sam likely lived off figs and pomegranates from trees after he first escaped, and later ate citrus, which can be harmful to the birds.

Marsh believes the bird was as happy as the rescue group that he was saved.

“I think he was a little bit relieved,” Marsh told the Las Vegas Review-Journal. “I think he was done doing the free bird thing.”