Bálint N. Miklós/SOR What will happen to these Dalmatian Pelican chicks? Their nesting island is under severe threat from flooding. Zoom In

Two months to save pelican stronghold

20-08-2004

The Romanian Ornithological Society (SOR, BirdLife in Romania) needs £3,000 to protect Europe’s third largest Dalmatian Pelican colony from further erosion. The work must be completed in the next two months, before severe weather sets in.

The colony – the largest in Romania – nests on a small island on Lake Sinoie, in the Danube Delta Biosphere Reserve. Storm damage and continuous erosion by major currents in the lake have reduced the island’s surface by 60 percent.

"To consolidate the island in time for the next breeding season, we need to build a protective wooden support wall before the end of October. The estimated cost of the work is £5,000. The RSPB has already contributed £2,000, but we need to raise the remaining £3,000 as a matter of urgency." —Dan Hulea, Executive Director, SOR

Although 84 pelican pairs bred on the island in 2004, a further 70-80 nests were swept away.

The total European breeding population of Dalmatian Pelican Pelecanus crispus is fewer than 1,500 pairs and the species has recently been uplisted to Vulnerable following declines across most of its range.