Scores of sick and starving pelicans have been found along the California coast in recent weeks, and many others have died.
Lifeguards discovered a colony of 20 sick pelicans on a pier off the coast of Newport Beach earlier this week and called in wildlife experts for help.
Debbie McGuire, executive director of the Huntington Beach Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center, said the birds were rescued after taking in more than 100 other pelicans who were anemic, dehydrated and weighed only half their body weight. He said it was the latest group to try. should.
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“They’re starving and if we don’t take care of them, they’re going to die,” McGuire said. “It’s really a crisis.”
Lindsay Campbell, left, a senior wildlife technician at the Wildlife Care Center, administers a large feeding syringe to a starving and severely dehydrated brown pelican on May 3, 2024 in Huntington Beach, California. is used to feed. (Leonard Ortiz/Orange County Register via AP)
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The cause of the bird’s illness was not immediately clear. Some wildlife experts said the pelicans were malnourished, even though the Pacific coast is rich in marine life.
Bird Rescue, which operates two wildlife centers in northern and southern California, said 110 sick pelicans have been reported in the past three weeks, many entangled in fishing lines and hooks. The group said a similar incident occurred in 2022.
Wildlife organizations are focused on caring for the birds until they can be released back into the wild.
