Pelicans are also to be found on Curacao. Unfortunately, @Vet Doest sees them often due to injury or even abuse. But at FDOC we help them recover to health, so they can be released back into the wild.
On below picture you can see Tropez. He is actually doing really good with his beak. And becoming a good candidate for education sessions. He is fully flighted and this is his favorite sleeping spot. He can’t survive in the wild with his missing upper beak. Some Pelicans also get wounded due to abuse from fisherman and this Pelican lost his beak.
Neil is a very intelligent bird. He just showed another pelican that was admitted as a patient @Vet Doest how to eat fish. As he goes to schools he is trained to be tame. Due to his complicated broken wing he can’t go back to the wild. His duty’s? Explain children why harassing pelicans is very sad and bad, explaining kids that balloons can kill his family and friends in the wild. Be a guide to wild pelican patients so that their recovery goes better, and be a great wildlife ambassador in education.(and yes behave like a little puppy enjoying the card ride like a dog.....)
On below picture you see Neil. He has joined Bob on the conservation classes at elementary schools in Curacao.
Early therapeutic morning swim before a busy day.
Snap was one of our education Pelicans who loved to swim long and far, I once had to climb into a passing boat to help me get to him, boy he swam fast. Photo credits @jasperdoest
What do you mean.. the fish is still frozen? I’m hungry. Feeding our Pelicans ambassadors is no Joke. It means at least 1.5 kilo of fish a day.
