When animal services officer Troy Lombas got a call from the California Highway Patrol about a pelican with a broken wing, he was skeptical.
In Fresno, he’s used to helping cats and dogs — not coastal birds known for soaring over waves.
“Honestly, what was going through my head was, ‘Is this really a pelican?’” Lombas told The Dodo. “I thought maybe it was a smaller bird someone mistook for one.”
But when he arrived on scene, all doubt vanished.
“My first thought was, ‘That’s a really big bird,’” he said.
Neither Lombas nor the officer had ever rescued a pelican before, but they quickly formed a plan.
They parked their vehicles to block traffic and slowly approached the bird, who was struggling to move because of his injured wing.
After a few tense minutes, they managed to guide the pelican safely into a dog crate.
Then came another surprise: they were more than 70 miles from the coast.
“Pelicans are usually beach lovers, so finding one so far from the ocean was like spotting a fish out of water,” Fresno Humane Animal Services wrote on Facebook.
No one knows how the pelican ended up so far inland, but Lombas suspects he may have been trying to catch fish in the aqueduct that runs alongside the I-5 freeway.
Back at the shelter, Lombas and his team did everything they could to make the displaced bird feel at ease.
“In the office, we played a little bit of ocean sounds on our phones to calm him,” Lombas said with a laugh.
After spending a night under their care, the pelican was transferred to Critter Creek Wildlife Station, where he’ll rest and heal until he’s ready to return to the wild.
Thanks to a team willing to go beyond their usual duties — and one officer’s compassion — a lost pelican will soon find his way home again.
If you'd like to support other animals like this pelican, you can make a donation to Fresno Humane Animal Services here and to Critter Creek Wildlife Station here.
