As hundreds of pelicans flew home to their rookery on the shores of Possum Kingdom Lake on evening of April 5th, a major hailstorm also moved into the area. The early word was that there were a large number of casualties.
 

Fortunately, RWRC was alerted to the disaster and on April 6th, Kathy Rogers, Teri Latsko, Penny Halstead, and Ralph Mitchell made their way out in the lake to assess the situation.

The team worked all day and into the night on April 6th and again on April 7th. On Monday, they were joined by Ken Williams, a lake resident and fishing guide. The group looked at every single bird on the lake. The triage system with the pelicans went according to how the birds responded when approached by the rehabilitation workers. The birds either:

  1. Flew away and were deemed healthy
  2. Tried to fly and were caught, examined, and taken back to the clinic
    or
  3. Were euthanized to reduce their suffering due to severe injuries

In total, 30 birds were rescued and brought back to RWRC.

After a month of rehab, they were ready to be released. On May 8th, with the cameras of the local CBS affiliate rolling, 28 of the pelicans were released back at Possum Kingdom Lake. The remaining two will be moving to a zoo because their injuries will prevent them from being released.

The story was aired on the local CBS affiliate, featured in the Fort Worth Star Telegram, and on CNN, generating calls from across the country. Thank you to those who donated to this cause.

Rescuing wild birds from disasters, whether manmade or natural, is part of RWRC’s mission; this is an example of the many situations in which RWRC was able to rehabilitate many birds and reduce the suffering of those that were severely injured.