The reward being offered for information leading to the arrest of whoever is responsible for mutilating a brown pelican’s jaw pouch in Long Beach grew to $20,000 this week, thanks to an anonymous donation of $10,000, the International Bird Rescue announced Wednesday.
The bird, nicknamed “Pink” for the color of the leg band it received when it was rescued, has been recovering at the International Bird Rescue in San Pedro since it was discovered in the 5600 block of Ocean Blvd. with a clean slit in its jaw pouch on April 16. After determining that the injury had been human-inflicted and that it had prevented the bird from eating for several weeks, the IBR offered a $2500 reward for information leading to the person responsible for the crime.
Public support helped increase the reward to $10,000 before this week’s anonymous donation and the Port of Long Beach also announced it was donating $5000 to the surgery and rehabilitation of the pelican. The pelican has undergone two surgeries to repair the damage so far, one on Sunday and another Tuesday.
Though California brown pelicans were removed from the engangered species list, hurting a migratory bird is still a crime, one that comes with a possible felony charge. The culprit could face up to six months in jail and fines of up to $15,000.
Anyone with information about the attack on the pelican was asked to contact the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service at (310) 328-1516.
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