NEW ORLEANS (AP) - U.S. Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne is
expected to announce today an effort to remove the brown pelican
from endangered species lists.
Under government supervision, the brown pelican has made a
strong comeback after the species vanished from the state in 1961
because of DDT contamination. The birds were poisoned when they ate
fish laced with the pesticide.
Today, brown pelicans are a common sight, standing atop signs
and posts along waterways.
The brown pelican was placed on the endangered list in 1970
throughout the United States, but it was taken off in 1985 along
the Atlantic Coast and Alabama's Gulf Shore. It remains endangered
in its western range, which includes Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas,
California, Washington and Oregon. Louisiana wetlands are among its
most important breeding grounds.
(Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
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