$5K Reward Offered To Find Whoever Injured Four Pelicans

SAN PEDRO, CA — A $5,000 reward was offered Monday by the International Bird Rescue in San Pedro for information that helps find whoever is responsible for severely injuring four California brown pelicans.

The pelicans were recently brought to the IBR clinic with severe injuries to their pouches and necks, and staffers suspect the wounds are "deliberate and malicious," according to the nonprofit organization.

Three of the four pelicans were from the Marina del Rey area, and the fourth was rescued near Ventura Harbor. There was also a fifth bird with similar injuries that came into the organization's care in 2019 from Ventura Harbor.

In 11 years, International Bird Rescue's staff veterinarian, Dr. Rebecca Duerr, has seen hundreds of pelican pouch injuries, most of them caused by fish hooks, boat propeller strikes and other mishaps.

But Duerr said the recent injuries differ in that they are straight cuts through both sides of the bird's pouch, extending back along one or both sides of the neck and peeling the skin off the bird's neck. The wounds leave the pelicans in shock and doomed to die in pain.

The most recent victim not only had symmetrical cuts slicing through the entirety of the pouch, detaching it from the neck, but also had a straight cut into the muscle at the back of the neck consistent with a knife or machete cut. The pelican had to be humanely euthanized because of the severity of the wounds.

"Please keep an eye out over the holidays," an IBR statement says. "We are asking our community of bird lovers to help protect vulnerable wildlife from human violence. Brown pelicans are protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and harming them is a crime."

Russ Curtis from the International Bird Rescue told Patch these attacks surfaced over the last year or so.

"We don't know if this has been going on longer and if there are more birds that have been harmed," Curtis told Patch. "These are the ones we've gotten into care and we've just noticed a difference in the way the pouch has been sliced back to its head."

"The injuries are similar in some ways and striking in their malicious look," Curtis said.

The staff and veterinarians noticed that these were not small injuries.

"These are starting to become more pronounced," Curtis said. "It's really important for the public to know because they might notice something. They may see pelicans that are very emaciated and they can't eat if they can't use their pouch."

It's not that they're getting caught in fishing lines or nets, oftentimes they do have pouch injuries, he added.

"But these are so much more severe," Curtis said. "They can still fly, but they oftentimes come in emaciated and hypothermic because they're low body weight."

People may see pelicans in the wrong spot, away from the coast, he said.

Once the birds are rescued, the group adds a blue band and a special number that can make sure they do well in the wild but also tracks how they move up and down the coast.

Anyone who has information about the pelican cases or who witnesses someone harming other wildlife can call the CalTip hotline at 888-334-2258, to report suspicious activity. The “CalTIP” app is also available in the App Store, or by texting “CALTIP,” followed by a space and the message, to 847411 (tip411). Please include penal code 597 in the report.

More information about International Bird Rescue is available at https://www.birdrescue.org/

- City News Service and Patch Editor Nicole Charky contributed to this report.