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An animal rights group has bumped up the reward to find whoever is apparently mutilating brown pelicans along the Orange County coast.
The Animal Legal Defense Fund upped the existing reward to $25,000, after another pair of birds were found dead.
BREAKING: We've increased the reward to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for attacking and mutilating dozens of brown pelicans on the coast of Orange County, California. https://t.co/ra6gubVP5Z
— ALDF (@ALDF) July 20, 2021
The issue is an unnerving but familiar one in South Orange County, according to veterinarian Elizabeth Wood with the Wetland and Wildlife Center in Huntington Beach. She says over the years, there have been past frequent reports of fishermen slashing the birds' pouches and even cutting off their bills to keep them from snagging fish.
Most of the nearly three dozen birds that were recently found died of compound bone fractures.
The state Department of Fish and Wildlife is still investigating.
"We hope that the public is acting as our eyes and ears and giving tips to them so that they can run that investigation, but that part's not in our control," Wood said.
If you have any information, you can drop a tip to Fish and Wildlife at (888) 334-2258.