Update, May 1: An anonymous supporter, the Animal Legal Defense Fund, along with the generous support of individual donors including Lourdes Rivas & Patti Ballaz, have increased the reward to $20,000 for information leading to the arrest of those responsible for this horrific pelican attack.

Anyone with information that might lead to the arrest and conviction of the suspect or suspects should contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at 310-328-1516.

You can make a donation to support the care of this animal by clicking on the pelican image to the right. Mail-in donations can be sent to:

International Bird Rescue

P.O. Box 2171

Long Beach CA 90801

You can also make a donation by phone. Simply call us at 510-289-1472 and we’ll handle your gift right away.

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This Brown Pelican with a severe pouch laceration injury was found and captured last week at 5400 Ocean Blvd in Long Beach before transfer to our Los Angeles center. The laceration runs all the way around the pouch, and as a result the pelican was unable to self-feed.

Our center team has placed temporary staples in the pouch to allow the bird to self-feed and stabilize. The bird is currently living in our small aviary awaiting surgery to repair the pouch.

Jay Holcomb, the rescue organization’s director, said fishermen sometimes injure birds because they are falsely seen as competition. “Pelicans are of no threat to anyone, yet they continue to be mutilated and even killed by people who see them as competition for fish,” Holcomb said in a statement. “The truth is a pelican’s diet is mostly anchovies and sardines – fish that are used as bait by people who fish for sport.” Reward offered for arrest of pelican abuser, Orange County Register, April 21, 2014

Anyone with information that might lead to the arrest and conviction of person responsible for the mutilation of this bird should contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) at 310-328-1516. We’ll keep you posted on this bird’s condition.

Read the full press release on this incident here.

Further reading:

• Blue-Banded Pelican Project