Stray pelican's flight home to United States is grounded by red tape - Pet forum for dogs cats and humans

Love4himies · #1 February 18th, 2011, 01:47 PM

This is just friggin rediculous

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/can...116483933.html

Stray pelican's flight home to United States is grounded by red tape
By: The Canadian Press
Posted: 02/18/2011 12:20 PM | Comments: 0
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HALIFAX - Efforts to return a stray brown pelican to his home in the United States from Nova Scotia have hit a snag.
The Hope for Wildlife Society says they understand that for Ralph to make the trip on a commercial flight from Halifax, he has to be cleared by an official from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service before he boards the plane.
But there isn't such an official available in the city, so he can't fly commercially to North Carolina.
Ralph was found on the roof of a Halifax-area strip club called Ralph's Place in September and it's believed he was blown of course by hurricane Earl.
Allison Dube of the wildlife society says she now hopes a private plane can be found that will fly Ralph home, which would allow him to be cleared by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when he lands in North Carolina.
Dube says the society has spent months cutting through red tape to clear the way for Ralph to return home until this latest roadblock in his journey.

Melinda · #2 February 18th, 2011, 01:49 PM

a pelican isn't like a goose is it? where it can fly home no matter where it is? poor thing, hope he gets home soon. I'm sure there will be tons of offers now.

Love4himies · #3 March 8th, 2011, 10:55 AM

http://www.montrealgazette.com/techn...689/story.html

Ralph the pelican goes home in a van

Canadian vacation ends after visit to strip club, shelter

BY DEREK ABMA, POSTMEDIA NEWS MARCH 8, 2011 9:35 AM COMMENTS (1)

Ralph the pelican discovered on the roof of a Halifax strip club is finally heading home after spending most of the winter in Canada. Brown pelicans like Ralph are not supposed to be in Canada, particularly in winter. But it's believed he got blown off course during Hurricane Earl in September.
Photograph by: Handout, The Windsor Star
He hit some wild weather, stopped by a strip club and made some good friends who gave him food and shelter in his time of need.

After a Canadian vacation to remember, Ralph the pelican made it back yesterday to the United States, as his months-long odyssey home continued.

Brown pelicans such as Ralph are not supposed to be in Canada. It's believed he got blown off course during Hurricane Earl in September. It was around that time he was discovered on the roof of a Halifax strip club, Ralph's Place - hence, the name.

The pelican reportedly showed up at the club dehydrated and particularly slight for his age.

Since then, Ralph has been cared for at the Hope for Wildlife Society, which runs a rehabilitation centre for animals in Halifax.

Travelling in a customized cargo van, Ralph crossed the U.S. border yesterday morning and was scheduled to arrive at a wildlife reserve in North Carolina tomorrow.

The young pelican, who is estimated to be about one year old, is believed to be from this general area or, possibly, from as far south as Florida.

Brown pelicans are rarely seen in Canada, but it's not the first time one has ventured this far. A number of complications - such as difficulties finding the proper paperwork to fly Ralph across the border and the lack of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife official to pre-approve entry of the bird at the Halifax airport (needed for a commercial flight) - prevented the pelican from getting flown back to his homeland.

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