A one-month-old Dalmatian pelican, a species that is endangered in the wild, is thriving under human care at the San Diego Zoo.
The zoo said Wednesday the young bird now weighs about 12 pounds and is beginning to grow feathers over its downy fluff. The youngster was brought to the zoo to be hand-reared after the chick’s father passed away at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park.
Animal care staff at the zoo’s Avian Propagation Center will hand raise the birds for approximately 50 to 60 days, until they are strong enough to return to their flock at the Safari Park.
“He started off a little bit slow and didn’t have very good weight gain for the first 10 days,” said Beau Parks, senior bird keeper at the San Diego Zoo. “But since then he is doing very well and we have to monitor how much he eats so he does not grow too fast.”
The youngster is one of two pelican chicks being hand-reared at the zoo In the wild, only one nestling is reared by the parents at a time and sibling competition and aggression have been documented. To ensure the well being of both chicks, the youngsters are being raised separately by animal care staff.
The Dalmatian pelican chicks are part of the first North American breeding program for this vulnerable species. Since the breeding program was started in 2006, 34 chicks have been hatched, and some of the birds have been sent to the Phoenix Zoo, where a second breeding colony is being established.
Dalmatian pelicans are the largest of the pelican species. At six to seven months, the birds could measure five to six feet in length and have a wingspan of nine to 11 feet.
Dalmatian pelicans live and nest in freshwater wetlands and rivers throughout Europe and Asia, but have gone extinct in some of their native regions.
