After more than two decades as the ringmaster of Kangaroo Island's pelican feeding show, John Ayliffe has pulled the pin on the popular tourist attraction.

The 68-year-old, dubbed the pelican man, has been a fixture at the Kingscote wharf for 23 years, taking centre stage every day at 5:00pm as dozens of pelicans swoop in for dinner.

"Never in my wildest dreams did I think I'd be a bloody pelican feeder, but you suddenly think, 'shit, people like this'," said the former wool producer.

Mr Ayliffe's family has lived on the South Australian island for more than 100 years.

In the 1980s he ran a significant wool operation with 9,500 head of merinos. But when the wool price collapsed in the early 1990s, so too did his business and he sold up.

"I was very lost and I thought, I don't know what to do here," Mr Ayliffe said.

He found his way again running tours to the local penguin colony and conducting pelican-feeding shows.

A few years ago a decline in the penguin population ended the tours.

But come rain or shine he has rarely missed a day fronting the pelican feeding frenzy, despite coming off second best at times, especially when the seagulls join in.

"It was like the Battle of Britain going on over your head," he said.

"My right arm is all scarred from being chomped. You've got to toughen up."

People were being abused, says mayor

A major tour operator dropped Mr Ayliffe's pelican show from its itinerary. ( ABC News: Michael Clements )

But the battle, it seems, has got the better of him.

At the end of April, Mr Ayliffe stepped off the feeding platform and has not been back since — a move he said he never wanted to make.

"You don't work at something for that long to just walk away for the fun of it," he said.

It was not the birds which beat him, he said, but the tourists who were watching and not paying the $5 fee which covers the cost of the fish.

"When you have a lot of people you'll see some of them jumping through the rails and out the back. You might lose 15 per cent," he said.

Those losses were compounded by a major tour operator dropping him from one of their itineraries.

Kangaroo Island mayor Peter Clements said while Mr Ayliffe's act had become a major part of the island, the pelican man had put some people offside by being rude to customers who did not pay at the end of his show.

"He's got quite hostile. [Tour operator] Sealink pulled out of sending people there because some people were being abused," Mr Clements said.

Mr Ayliffe said uncertainty over the future of the wharf also contributed to his decision, with the state government-owned asset up for sale and the local council keen to develop it.

He said he wanted the pelican feeding area protected from developers.

"For the Government to be so bloody stupid to let these pelicans go permanently, I can't believe anyone would be so stupid," he said

The State Government-appointed commissioner for Kangaroo Island Wendy Campana said Mr Ayliffe had jumped the gun by walking away from the job he had committed so much of his life to.

"All of us would love him to stay there," she said.

A return not off the cards

Before quitting the gig, Mr Ayliffe dreamed of turning the show into a bigger tourist attraction, installing screens around the feeding platform so people have to pay and setting up an interpretive display in the nearby harbourmaster building.

"The town has to have an attraction. It's sustainable and people like it," he said.

The State Government, which paid for the pelican-feeding platform, has ruled out the use of the harbourmaster building.

"Unfortunately the roof of the former harbourmaster building is dilapidating and contains asbestos and in the interest of safety the building must remain vacant," said Transport Minister Stephen Mullighan in a statement.

But Mr Clements said he was willing to help Mr Ayliffe develop the site if the Government approved it.

"He's good for the island. He's good for Kingscote and I hope we can make it work for him," he said.

As for the pelican man himself, while he says the saga has taken a toll on his health and he has become disillusioned, he has not ruled out returning to the job if things changed.

"Could it be put back together again? Absolutely. Would I do it again? Absolutely," he said.