A brown pelican being cared for at BC-SPCA's Wild ARC in Metchosin has died, after she had to be rescued a second time.
The female pelican was picked up Monday at Esquimalt Lagoon with a wound under her wing. Speculation is an off-leash dog may have gotten a hold of her, but staff felt it was a treatable wound.
BC-SPCA's Chief Scientific Officer, Sara Dubois, says a necropsy will have to determine the cause of death:
"Unfortunately she did pass away overnight. So at this point we don't have any information as to the cause of her death and her body will be sent to the provincial animal health lab in Abbotsford for a full necropsy. So obviously something was going on inside her that we couldn't see from the exterior, and at this point we'll have to wait for the results."
The large sea bird was sent to Wild ARC earlier this year to be treated for a wound on her rump, likely caused by a predator. After surgery, and several months of care, she was released back into the wild near Victoria's Race Rocks on August 19.
Dubois says it's heartbreaking for staff to lose her after she had come so far.