Yesterday, WES received a call about a brown pelican in the parking lot of the Ranch Del Mar Shopping Center in Aptos - just about one-half mile from the ocean. The pelican was reportedly resting near parked cars, oblivious to pedestrians and traffic.
When our rescue team arrived, the bird was gone! They alerted the Santa Cruz Animal Shelter Dispatch about the pelican, hoping someone would report seeing it nearby.
Soon after, the pelican was reported swimming in the pool of Cabrillo College, just down the street!
By the time our team arrived, the bird was out of the pool, and appearing a bit confused.
Lead responder, Rebecca Dmytryk, easily collected the adult brown pelican. Once she had hold of the bird, she could tell it was underweight, but it didn't appear to be injured.
The pelican was immediately transported to the local wildlife hospital, Native Animal Rescue, but, sadly, the bird did not make it overnight.
Because of the bird's unusual behavior, the pelican's body was sent to the Wildlife Investigations Lab in Ranch Cordova, CA where a necropsy will be performed to try and determine the cause of death.
THANK YOU WIL FOR INVESTIGATING!
2 comments:
So sad to learn that a bird capable of flying from RDM to Cabrillo and swimming in the pool was dead in less than 24 hrs.
Yes, it's very sad, and odd. I hope something comes of the necropsy that can explain it. She was very thin.
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