Jan 4, 2009 10:46 pm US/Pacific
Sanctuary Overwhelmed With Sick Brown Pelicans
SAN PEDRO
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The International Bird Rescue Center is overwhelmed with sick pelicans, but you can help! (file)
CBS
A San Pedro bird sanctuary is overwhelmed with incapacitated California brown pelicans and the problem likely stems from a population explosion in the Channel Islands pelican rookery, it was reported Saturday.
An increase in the number of sick and malnourished pelicans that have been found on roads and beaches have overwhelmed the center's outdoor aviaries.
The International Bird Rescue Center has instituted an "Adopt-a-Pelican" program, which allows donors to visit their adopted pelican and help release the rehabilitated bird.
The cost to participate in the International Bird Rescue Center's program is $200 per pelican and $500 to be a Pelican Partner, the Daily Breeze reported.
With each pelican costing an average of $500 to $1,000 to feed and treat, the center's director, Jay Holcomb, figured it was a good time to initiate the program.
"They're expensive animals -- they eat tons of fish and require a lot of medicine," the center's director, Jay Holcomb, told the Daily Breeze. "We'll never shut the door to them, but they don't come in with credit cards."
Holcomb explained that an increase in pelican babies led to more sick young birds coming to the center last fall.
"We don't usually get that many... at this time of year. We've been getting them regularly, and we've been concerned about it," he told the Daily Breeze.
"Some of them are injured but others are starving," Peter Wallerstein, a rescue specialist with the nonprofit Marine Animal Rescue told the Daily Breeze. "They're so weak. They're just landing and not having the strength to get up again."
California brown pelicans have been on the federal endangered species list since 1970, when high levels of the pesticide DDT caused their eggshells to thin and break. However, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering removing them from the endangered list.
(© 2010 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
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