Brown Pelican Wounded By Fishing Line And Hooks

The following story about a brown pelican was shared with us by International Bird Rescue in California.

On September 20, 2021, International Bird Rescue’s Fairfield, California, center received a California brown pelican from the Monterey SPCA Wildlife Rescue and Rehabilitation Center.

The pelican had been found two days prior in Pacific Grove, California, entangled in fishing hooks and lines. When it arrived at International Bird Rescue, it was emaciated, dehydrated, and had injuries on its wing and head from the hooks.

The bird received fluids and Emeraid IC Piscivore to help stabilize and rehydrate it. Thankfully, within a couple of days, it was feeling well enough to eat on its own, and it really started packing on the grams!

Its head wound and wing wound healed very quickly, and the bird started flying like a champ.

With such quick healing, we were able to release the pelican after only 15 days in care. The bird was released into the San Francisco Bay on September 5, 2021. We hope it will find lots of tasty meals without any dastardly hooks in them.