Hurt pelican improves; $6,000 reward offered

The award for information leading to the arrest of anyone involved in

the mutilation of a pelican found in Huntington Beach has jumped to

$6,000, since the pelican was discovered more than a week ago.

The endangered brown pelican, a roughly 3-year-old female,

underwent a two-hour surgery Thursday at All Creatures Care Cottage

in Costa Mesa to repair her throat pouch that may have been

intentionally slit. The animal is recovering at the Wetlands and

Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach.

The pelican began eating fish on Monday and the center continues

to give her antibiotics along with fluid and food support, said

Debbie McGuire of the wetlands and wildlife center.

“She’s still in a guarded condition, but improving,” McGuire said.

Doctors said it is too early to tell if the surgery will be

successful in restoring the pouch, McGuire said, but she is

optimistic.

When the pelican arrived at the center, it was weak and

malnourished, with a wound that had damaged a significant amount of

tissue, McGuire said.

The ear-to-ear slit, which almost completely removed the pouch

from the bird’s beak, was too large and too clean to have come from a

fishing hook or an accident, McGuire said.

The award money to find whoever is responsible for the pelican’s

injuries has grown with the support of private donors and the Humane

Society of the United States, McGuire said.