A pelican that died of gruesome injuries at Oak Flats was likely deliberately run over by a boat, an area seabird guardian says.
A passer-by found the bird near Skiway Park at Oak Flats early Wednesday, and called Australian Seabird Rescue’s Betty Spilsted.
The creature had serious wounds to its face and back, with its beak shattered beyond repair.
“If she had been able to say something, she would have said, ‘oh God, please kill me’,” Ms Spilsted said. “I [later] just cried all the way up Mount Ousley.”
“I think somebody’s deliberately gone over the top of it.”
“The bird would have had to go ‘clunk, clunk, clunk’ under the propeller. They must have known.”
The bird died before it could be euthanised by a vet.
Ms Spilsted later distributed posters in the area, calling on anyone with information about the bird’s demise to contact Australian Seabird Rescue (0431 282 238) or Crime Stoppers (1800 333 000).
