Dozens of brown pelicans are being treated at a wildlife rescue center in Orange County, but officials aren’t entirely sure what’s making them sick.
The Wetlands and Wildlife Care Center in Huntington Beach has been treating the birds, which are being brought to the facility from all across Southern California.
“We started seeing an uptick in Brown Pelicans arriving on Saturday, April 2,” said Debbie McGuire, executive director of the nonprofit organization. “We have received 79 from mostly Orange County, while a few are being found inland. Fifty-one died within the first two hours of arrival.”
The organization said it’s part of an “extended mass-stranding event,” the cause of which remains unknown.
The birds that are coming in are emaciated and hypothermic, and many have also been tangled up in fishing gear, McGuire said.
Initial lab work has confirmed that the birds are in “starvation mode,” but many have been responding positively to treatment, which includes fluids, vitamins and food.