California Pelicans going Suicidal for Unknown Reasons

Photo by dsearls via Flickr

After coming back from near extinction, wildlife rescuers are concerned by the recent problems facing the California brown pelican. For unknown reasons, the pelicans are disoriented and bruised, and landing on highways, airport runways, alleys, and backwards miles from the normal coastal homes, according to the LA Times.

Bird rescuers have been rushing to find the cause by analyzing blood samples and the carcasses of the downed birds. Starvation has been ruled out as a possibility because of the large number of fish populations. The most likely cause is some form on environmental factor.

“We just became aware of this problem a few days ago," said David Caron, a professor of biological sciences at USC who was analyzing pelican blood samples sent to him from throughout the state. "By the end of the week, we'll have information that should tell us whether or not these animals test positive for phytoplankton toxins."