The number of pelicans at the Great Salt Lake has dropped drastically this year.
SALT LAKE CITY — Pelicans are large, smelly, and sometimes mean birds. They like to be left alone and undisturbed."Gunnison Island is just a tough, harsh environment," John Luft, a biologist with the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, said."Pelicans actually like nesting in really remote areas. They're susceptible to disturbance," Luft said."Let us know where they've been if they do return to the island and then survival," Luft said.
"When we did our first aerial count there was 2,500 to 3,000 birds," Luft explained. "Since that time all of them have succumbed to exposure or just being predated on."Footage from Chopper 5 showed a small group of the pelicans, just offshore. Luft said a lot of them have moved to other Western states because their search to find fish was simply too long.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Environmentalists seek to elevate the Great Salt Lake in local policy decisionsThere is a new push to protect the Great Salt Lake by elevating the lake itself in local policy decisions. The environmental group Save Our Great Salt Lake is planning to ask city councils
Read more »
Construction headaches causing pain for Salt Lake City businessesConstruction in a part of downtown Salt Lake City is causing small businesses to struggle in keeping their doors open.
Read more »
Salt Lake City Council to spend $40 million on neighborhood improvementsThe city council is poised to spend $40 million on neighborhood improvement projects. They're called 'capital improvement projects.'
Read more »
'We are running lower than normal': Salt Lake City nonprofit thrift store in need of donationsA Salt Lake City organization that serves thousands of low income people is giving away more clothing than it's receiving.
Read more »
Construction on State Street reveals old tracks from Salt Lake City's trolleyThe metal tracks are from the last operating lines of streetcars that from the late 1800s until the 1940s brought people back and forth to Salt Lake City and Murray on an electrified line.
Read more »