Hot-tub therapy successful for hurt Okanagan pelican
An American white pelican, rescued in the South Okanagan after being injured by a fishing hook, was released back into the wild Friday.
The majestic bird, of a species rarely seen in the Valley, has been undergoing rehabilitation for the past seven months at a wildlife centre in the Lower Mainland.
Treatment for the bird's badlydamaged wing included long periods soaking in a hot-tub.
"He stayed in there as we spent countless hours managing his wound, infection, nutrition, and waterproofing his feathers," Janelle Stephenson, manager of Wildlife Rescue Hospital in Burnaby, said in a release.
"He took months to recover from his injury. Once healed, and as the weather warmed, he acclimated to our local climate where he learned how to fly again in a large outdoor enclosure," Stephenson said.
The pelican was to be driven Friday to Puntzi Lake, about 150 km east of Williams Lake, where biologists have recently spotted other pelicans, and released.
The area is the only known Canadian breeding ground for American white pelicans, one of North America’s largest birds.
Each fall, the birds — which can grow to be 1.6 metres in length — head south to California and Mexico. Last October, people noticed the damaged bird grounded near Tuc-El-Nuit Lake in Oliver, one of the birds' last resting stops in Canada.
Although the pelicans are said to be gregarious, it's believed the rest of the flock had flown off and abandoned the injured bird several weeks earlier.
A call was made to the Wildlife Rescue Hospital, whose representatives retrieved the pelican and managed his recovery through the winter.
The centre has cared for hundreds of injured water birds, but never had an American white pelican in its charge before. A bird rescue centre in San Francisco, with experience in such matters, helped with the rehabilitation program.