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San Pedro, CA
A
juvenile California brown pelican
almost closed down a runway at Los
Angeles International Airport (LAX)
yesterday. The youngster landed
in a maintenance area causing the
airport’s operations personnel
great concern. If the bird decided
to take off, he would have to fly
across the runways, a dangerous
proposition. Bob Fuhrmann of LAX
airport operations, called International
Bird Rescue Research Center (IBRRC)
in San Pedro, specialists in the
care of seabirds, for help.
IBRRC staff immediately
called wildlife rescue expert Peter
Wallerstein and within 15 minutes
he had been granted special access
and was following airport police
with flashing lights to the pelican,
who had fortunately stayed put.
“The airport employees were
great, and very concerned about
the pelican and wanting to do the
right thing,” said Wallerstein.
“I faced the bird blocking
him from taking off, but he was
quite weak, indicating to me he
needed medical attention.”
Wallerstein rushed the pelican,
which is an endangered species,
to IBRRC, where 36 other brown pelicans
are currently in care.
“Runway,”
as he is now being called by staff
at the center, was found to be in
need of hydration and food. He will
be available for adoption through
IBRRC’s Adopt a Pelican Program,
which helps pay for the cost of
caring for the birds. Pelicans typically
eat $200 worth of fish during their
stay and many require expensive
antibiotic treatment. “Runway
may have been in the early stages
of domoic acid poisoning, or a pelican
recently off the nest who was having
trouble finding food,” said
Erin Kellogg, rehabilitation manager.
IBRRC has cared for
70 brown pelicans already this year,
at an approximate cost of $30,000.
The center is appealing to the public
for help. To learn more about IBRRC’s
pelican adoption program, including
the Pelican Partners program, which
allows adopters to go on the release
of their pelican, visit their website
at http://www.ibrrc.org/
or call 707-207-0380, extension
109.
Contact numbers: Peter
Wallerstein, Whale Rescue Team,
310-560-6284 (cell) 800-39WHALE
– 24 hour hotline. Website
Media contact:
Public Affairs Director
(831) 622-7588
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