Channel 7
An injured cockatoo who became an icon of Queensland’s Cyclone Debbie has tragically passed away.
Debbie warmed the hearts of Australia when she was found battered and stripped of most of her feathers and clinging to fallen branches at Airlie Beach on Tuesday.
Townsville Bulletin photographer Alix Sweeney rescued the bird and kept it safe in a box in her motel room.
“[She] just looked so sad,” the photographer told Nine News at the time.
“I don’t know how this guy survived.”
But despite her health seemingly improving over time, Debbie was found dead on Thursday morning.
She has since been buried in the same forest where she was found.
Speaking to the Courier Mail, Queensland Wildlife volunteer Bree Williams explained the bird most likely died from internal injuries obtained during the storm.
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