Brown pelican recovery is often heralded as a success story for the Endangered Species Act. California declared the brown pelicans recovered in the state as of June of 2009, and the federal de-listing came in November 2009. Yet organizations like International Bird Rescue Research Center believe the act came too soon for the California population of brown pelicans.
Even though the population size grew enough to consider the species recovered, many of the factors that led to brown pelican endangerment are still prevalent today. Which is why Change.org community member, Dagmar Jesensky, is petitioning California to return brown pelicans to the state’s endangered species list.
Poisoning from the pesticide DDT caused the brown pelican population crash back in the 1960s, along with a number of other bird species, including bald eagles and peregrine falcons. Despite an EPA ban in 1972, DDT is still having effects on bird populations today, such as the federally endangered California condor.
Having just been declared recovered last year, IBRRC worries that, while the number of pelicans in California has “recovered,” the population has not stabilized.
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