Don’t feed the pelicans!
Published on 12 July 2019
If you regularly visit our beautiful riverfront precinct, you may recently have noticed one of the star attractions – pelicans – getting a little over-confident or aggressive when there’s food around.
To help curb our pelicans’ new-found anti-social behaviour, Council and the Department of Environment, Land, Water and Planning (DELWP) are asking residents to avoid feeding the birds, both for public safety and the health and safety of the birds.
Councillor for Environment and Farming Sustainability Anthony Cirillo said the advice follows increasing reports of pelicans approaching people for food, and in some cases, snatching food.
“You sometimes see pelicans and other birdlife along our riverfront precinct loitering around waiting for any food scraps, however it’s only because they’ve become reliant on people feeding them,” Cr Cirillo said.
“This causes two problems. Firstly, the pelicans now expect to be fed along this precinct, which is encouraging them further, potentially leading to aggressive behaviour, including around our riverfront cafes.
“Secondly, pelicans are wild birds that require a special diet. The bread and other left-over food from barbecues people often feed them is actually bad for their health.
“While pelicans will eat almost anything, their bodies are only designed to thrive on fish. If they eat anything other than fish they’ll most likely get sick and struggle to survive, which will have flow-on impacts on their chicks, and ultimately, native birdlife generally.
“So don’t worry when you see pelicans seemingly starving and looking for food along our riverfront precinct – they know where to find it, and it should come from the river, not your left-overs!”
Signs will soon be erected along the Mildura riverfront precinct, reminding people not to feed the birds, especially pelicans.
Once our native birdlife realise there’s no ‘free lunch’ along our riverfront, their recent aggressive behaviour should quickly disappear.
For more information contact Council’s Environmental Sustainability Coordinator Nardia Baker on (03) 5018 8100.
Media enquiries
Ben Piscioneri
p) (03) 5018 8689
e) ben.piscioneri@mildura.vic.gov.au