Nonprofits ask for donations to help sick, hungry brown pelicans in LA

The Los Angeles Wildlife Center, run by the nonprofit group Bird Rescue, is making an urgent plea for donations to help a brown pelican crisis in Southern California. 

More than 200 brown pelicans are hungry and sick in the area, officials said. The cold and starving animals arrive sick and many have injuries associated with increasingly risky efforts to find food. 

Brown pelicans were added to the endangered species list in 1970 due to exposure to DDT and then removed in 2009. In 2010 and 2012, Bird Rescue's wildlife centers saw similar inundations of brown pelican patients.

The group's specialized rehabilitation skills help them return to the wild, but it is financially costly. Not only do the birds have voracious appetites, but many require extensive medical care to heal. The cost is $45 a day to cover food, medicine, and staff time, and Bird Rescue is spending $2,000 on fish each day.

Bird Rescue experts have not figured out the specific issue with the food supply, but they say the birds are failing to find enough to eat and taking extra risks when foraging.

"Rescue efforts like in 2010 and 2012, and the one we're undertaking now help keep pelicans off the endangered species list," Bird Rescue CEO JD Bergeron said.

Donations can be made here.