Zandvlei Trust

Unfortunate Pelican death



This Pelican did not make it over the Railway powerlines. It had a heavy fish in its crop and could not safely negotiate the powerlines. It was electrocuted on 27th September 2001, between Lakeside Station and the bridge over the Westlake/Keyser Rivers.
Possibly it was being chased by other birds there were no witnesses, this is only an assumption. The carcass had to be carefully removed from the overhead power lines, by Metrorail personnel.
Negoiations will take place to have reflective beacons mounted on the lines, between Lakeside station and Steenberg station. These beacons are used successfully at many sites where man made obstacles have been built in the flight paths of birds. We can not afford to lose Pelicans in this way, their numbers are vulnerable and they are listed as a Red Data Species see the article 'Threatened Fauna and Flora of Zandvlei' in the Spring 2001 Newsletter.