© Times-PicayuneThe brown pelican, Louisiana's state bird
As many as 35 brown pelicans have been found dead on Grand Isle in the past two weeks, prompting an investigation by scientists with the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. They've dismissed suspicions that the birds were shot but have yet to determine the cause of death.
The dead pelicans were first reported to the Grand Isle Police Department, which asked state officials to investigate. "In the wintertime, we always get some calls about dead pelicans,
but this seems to be an extraordinary amount," said Cheryl McCormack, secretary to Police Chief Euris DuBois.
"We're alarmed about the number of them."The brown pelican, Louisiana's state bird, was removed from the federal list of endangered and threatened species in 2009, but it is still protected under federal law. The birds had largely vanished from Louisiana's coast by the mid-1960s, after exposure to the pesticide DDT resulted in too-fragile eggshells.
More than 1,200 pelicans were imported from Florida in 1968. But the time of delisting, there were more than 12,000 breeding pairs in Texas and Louisiana.
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