HOW MANY PELICANS WERE AFFECTED BY THE AVIAN BOTULISM CRISIS?
The outbreak was discovered on August 15, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimated that as many as 13,844 birds from 61 species had died during the first two months of the outbreak. The population of the endangered Brown Pelican – which had begun to make a comeback after the chemical pesticide DDT was outlawed in the 70s – was seriously compromised. Before the outbreak, between 5,000 and 6,000 breeding pairs of Brown Pelicans lived in California. At the Salton Sea, more than 1,500 Brown Pelican carcasses were counted, and experts estimate that up to 15% of the Western US population perished in two months. The population of the American White Pelican was also seriously reduced.
