A magical event took place at Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue in Australia this month. Mr. Percival, a rescue pelican, has been waiting with his partner for six long years for their eggs to hatch. Just when everyone thought it was all in vain, something incredible started to happen.
The rescue center made a Facebook post about a month ago, saying that they had decided to put another pelican’s egg in Mr. Percival and his partner’s nest. The sanctuary people were all saddened to see how long these two have waited for their own nested eggs to hatch. They thought that this gesture would make the couple happy and fulfilled.
This pelican couple persistently waited 6 years for their eggs to hatch, but sadly, not a single one did.
According to the Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue Facebook page, “Mr. Percival has never given up trying to have a baby pelican chick. He sits on his eggs with his partner that shares the incubation, and the eggs have never hatched. He has been doing this for 6 years now, and we felt so sorry for him as it’s so sad when he sees the others around him seeing baby pelicans.”
“It’s so sad when he sees the others around him seeing baby pelicans,” shared the sanctuary caretakers.
“So we did this amazing thing for him as we wanted to make him really happy this time. We switched one egg over from one nest to the other,” they explained. “Mr. Percival and his partner have been communicating with the egg and today the egg hatched and we just couldn’t believe how Mr. Percival was proud as punch.”
To fulfill Mr. Percival’s wish, they placed a fellow pelican’s egg in their nest.
When the egg hatched, Mr. Percival immediately switched to father mode. He showed how responsible and caring he was. As they watched the baby pelican grow, the rescue team couldn’t be happier! “We are so proud of him,” they shared. “As we can see, the baby pelican chick is growing beautifully and we have learnt something by observing that the male pelican feeds more than the female, but they both take time out sitting on the baby pelican.”
Mr. Percival has proved himself to be a loving and responsible father.
He has made the caretakers quite emotional. They further shared, “He made us cry! As you can tell, he and his partner are in love with their newborn pelican chick. Glad he will feel like the others that are surrounded around him with their pelican chicks.”
They believe that Mr. Percival and his partner are very much in love and that a baby pelican was the only thing missing in their lives. “This is true love for our Mr. Percival. We have a special permit to look after him; we have had him for 18 years now and he is enjoying life down by the dam.”
The rescue center staff are super-proud of Mr. Percival. The baby pelican chick has been growing beautifully.
Mr. Percival was rescued 18 years ago on Chambers Island in Maroochydore, Queensland. According to them, he was a tiny, clumsy pelican who would always get caught between the fishing lines and hooks. He needed a real home.
Mr. Percival was found 18 years ago on Chambers Island in Maroochydore, Queensland.
“But the poor thing lost his wing due to a bad injury and a beautiful vet fixed him up. We got a special permit to keep him on our dam and we let people and kids know what fishing line and hooks can do to the wildlife,” Twinnies Pelican and Seabird Rescue narrated in a Facebook post.
Due to a wing injury, the sanctuary got a permit to keep the poor pelican.
After being rescued and given a proper name, Mr. Percival grew up to be a healthy and happy pelican. Now that he is playing the dad role, he’s even happier and super-excited to see his baby pelican every day. The sanctuary team expressed how proud they are by saying, “We are so honored to see Mr. Percival doing a great job and his partner raising this little pelican chick. Mr. Percival goes for a swim and catches little fish, then he feeds his little one and we feed him fish too, so he has a great life living on the dam, no more hooks and line.”
The baby pelican has grown a lot in just a few weeks, and you can tell how much love it has for its parents. The rescue team is so glad to have done the egg swap. Now they can witness Mr. Percival and his family living a beautiful life together.
