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Aug 2023

Last Updated: 25/08/2023

Environment

Missing pelican from Blackpool Zoo found in Knaresborough

by John Plummer

| 24 Aug, 2023

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Pic: Blackpool Zoo

A pelican missing from Blackpool Zoo for almost three weeks was found in Knaresborough yesterday.

The Eastern white pelican was scared by gulls and blown away by a gust of wind on August 4.

Zookeepers set up a 24-hour hotline and eventually captured it at Hay-a-Park gravel pits this afternoon — 65 miles from home. It was retuned to the zoo evening.

But the zoo said in a statement the rescue wouldn't have been successful without the help of a local family:

"Particular thanks goes to a wonderful family in Knaresborough who saw keepers trying to reach the pelican in the lake on Wednesday and brought a kayak for them to use — without their kind gesture and support, the rescue would not have been possible."

The statement added:

"It was extremely important for us to rescue this pelican and return it to its flock as they are very social birds and, as a non-native species, it needed to be back with its own kind.

"Confirmed sightings have come from as near to home as Lytham and Fleetwood, to as far away as Harrogate and, where it was eventually rescued, in Knaresborough.

"The pelican is now in our animal hospital, where it has been given a full health check, had its wings clipped and will be quarantined before being returned to the flock in the near future."

The statement described pelicans are docile creatures and said "there was never any threat to the public".

Let us know if you were the family that helped with the rescue. Email us at contact@thestrayferret.co.uk

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Missing pelican from Blackpool Zoo found in Knaresborough

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