Hawke’s Bay: Runaway turkey found dead after bridge escapade

A turkey met an untimely end on a Hawke's Bay highway on Sunday.

There was no Christmas miracle for a runaway turkey that held up traffic as it tried to flee across a Hawke’s Bay highway bridge on Sunday.

A police spokeswoman said they were called to reports of a “big bird” on the loose on one of the State Highway 51 bridges near Clive about 8.30am.

There were concerns the turkey could cause a crash because it was forcing people travelling north towards Napier to swerve, eyewitnesses told police.

“Unfortunately, the white and grey bird was found deceased by police on arrival,” the spokeswoman said.