A grey crowned crane which caused the A2 motorway to be closed for a time at the weekend because it was mourning its dead mate has been finally caught and taken to a wildlife centre.

On Saturday, two lanes of the A2 near Mijdrecht were closed off to ensure the safety of the bird which wanted to stay close to the body of its mate. The other bird had been hit by a vehicle and killed. Grey crowned cranes mate for life.

Animal ambulance staff failed to catch the bird at the time but did so the following day, with the help of a bystander. The bird was taken to a refuge on the edge of Amsterdam.

Road inspector William, who was involved in the rescue, said he had visited the bird at the refuge and that it is doing well. “A special moment. I’m happy he is safe and will soon be among his own again,” he wrote on social media.

The cranes, which are natives of sub-Saharan Africa, had been spotted near Mijdrecht three months ago. Officials did not take action at the time because the birds looked healthy and did not pose a danger to traffic or people.

No-one has yet come forward to say the surviving crane belongs to them, but experts suspect they came from a private collection.

City zoologist Remco Daalder told the Parool that if the owner fails to materialise, the bird will have to be moved to a zoo. “It won’t make it on its own in the wild,” he told the paper.