Ecology 7/26/2024 Read 4 min

Humanity above all: employees of Northern mining and processing plant rescue a swan

Employees of Northern GOK's mining and transport shop #1 rescued a swan that had become exhausted from the heat and had gone deep into the Pervomaisky open pit in search of water and shade and could not fly out on its own.

Probably, every team of Kryvyi Rih miners has its own story of rescuing birds that often mistakenly make a stop in the deep bowls of mine workings where they see water. However, this false rest turns into a serious problem for the birds, as they often find it difficult to fly upwards from the space limited by the sides. Such a situation apparently happened to the swan, which was recently spotted by Anatolii Kliatskyi, a driver of a heavy dump truck.

"I was driving along our serpentine road to the excavator for loading at the level of 255 metres when I noticed an exhausted swan on the road. It almost didn't run away from the car because it was half dead. It was a miracle that I saw it from the cab. It was clear that the bird needed some help, otherwise it would get hit by the wheels," Anatolii KLIATSKYI recounts the situation.

The driver immediately reported what he had seen to his shift foreman. After a quick discussion, the colleagues decided to take the bird up to a small lake near the crushing plant. On the way back, the driver managed to catch the poor bird and take it to his cab. The air-conditioned cab and food helped the bird to recover a little and become more lively. And then, together with a bulldozer driver he knew, Anatolii took the swan to the water.

"Now the Pervomaiskyi open-pit mine has its own story about a rescued bird, not just our colleagues from Hannivskyi or Ingulets," jokes Dmytro KANCHUKOVSKYI, shift foreman. In fact, the employees themselves are happy that there is one more good deed and one more saved living soul in the world. And this is extremely important, especially in times full of bad news and danger.