A brown pelican that swallowed a fishing hook and line was released Tuesday in Vero Beach after nearly a month of treatment and rehabilitation, giving the bird a second chance in the wild.
Rehabilitation Efforts
Busch Wildlife Sanctuary said the pelican arrived in late May after someone spotted fishing line hanging from its mouth. Veterinarians later found the bird had swallowed the hook and line entirely.
The pelican was severely underweight, weak and suffering from a serious infection in one leg, the sanctuary said.
Amy Kight, CEO of Busch Wildlife Sanctuary, said, “There’s a lot of things kind of compounding at one. And so each of those systematically got treated so we could get it back out in the wild.”
After weeks of care, the pelican gradually regained strength and was prepared for release on a Vero Beach shoreline Tuesday morning.
Kight said injuries involving fishing line and hooks are among the most common problems the sanctuary sees in pelicans.
Wildlife officials said the public should remember to not feed animals in the wild to give them the best chance at survival.
Original reporting: WPBF West Palm Beach — read the source article.
