Laika had tires and it also had a locator with it, with which it was possible to follow its migrations precisely.
The bird ringers found the Laika kuri, which had been monitored by the Finnish Nature Conservation Union’s kuri, dead on April 21. The bird had arrived in Finland after the Easter weekend. It wintered in Germany, south of Hamburg.
– We went to see if it was alone. We wanted to know if Laika had mated, because it was a bird of the fourth calendar year, says Soppela.
Ringers located the bird on the ice of the lake. Laika had just died and there were no signs of major visible injuries. There were also no traces of a predator.
Based on the locations, Laika had been alive less than an hour before she was found.
– The bird had a small injury near the base of the leg, Soppela describes.
Ringers estimate that the bird had been injured earlier, weakened and then flew onto the ice.
Laika was sent to the Food Agency for investigation to find out the cause of its death.
Suomen Luonto magazine wrote about it first. In addition to Laika, the magazine follows the migrations of cranes named Sola, Harmaa and Häröliina.