Great White Pelican - Relationships With Humans

Relationships With Humans

Today, because of overfishing in certain areas, White Pelicans are forced to fly long distances to find food. Great white pelicans are exploited for many reasons. Their pouch is used to make tobacco bags, Their skin is turned into leather, the guano is used as fertiliser, and the fat of young pelicans is converted into oils for traditional medicine in China and India. In Ethiopia, Great White Pelicans are shot for their meat. Human disturbance, loss of foraging habitat and breeding sites, and pollution are all contributing to the decline of the Great White Pelican. Declines have been particularly notable in the Palearctic.

The Great White Pelican is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.The great white pelican is classified as Least Concern on the IUCN Red List 2006 and is listed on Appendices I and II of the Convention on Migratory Species. It is listed on Appendix II of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats and on Annex I of the EC Birds Directive. Overall, though, the Great White Pelican is still the most widely-distributed species. Although some areas still hold quite large colonies, it ranks behind the Brown pelican and possibly the Australian Pelican in overall abundance. Europe now holds an estimated 7,345–10,000 breeding pairs, with over 4,000 pairs that are known to nest in Russia. During migration, more than 75,000 have been observed in Israel and, in winter, over 45,000 may stay in Pakistan. In all its colonies combined, 75,000 pairs are estimated to nest on the African continent.

This species is often kept in captivity, in zoos or in semi-wild colonies such as that in St. James's Park, London. The ancestors of this colony were originally given to Charles II by the Russian Ambassador in 1664 which initiated the tradition of ambassadors donating the birds.