When Jeffrey Condon, the Tanzania's Nomad Lodges safari park manager, found a pitiful pelican separated from his flock during a storm, he took in the lonely bird and has had to take over as the life skills teacher for the pelican he calls "Big Bird," according to the San Francisco Chronicle. Without his flock, it has been tough for Big Bird to learn the skills he needs to survive in the wild, leaving Condon to step in and teach the pelican everything from how to fly to how to fish.
The safari park is situated in a most idyllic tropical paradise, said Bro Bible, amazed at the fishing lessons.
"He's adopted camp as his flock now. We've been teaching him pretty much everything he needs to know," Condon said.
"The problem with the great white pelican is that they normally hunt together in a flock and that way they're quite successful," said Condon, according to Little Things. "But as a solitary bird, it's going to be difficult for him to be able to catch enough fish to survive."
It's been tough teaching the good-natured bird, since Condon and staff are not, well let's face it, they just aren't pelicans. But that hasn't stopped them from coming up with creative ways to teach Big Bird.
"We want to get him fishing for himself. We're spending a bit of time with him in the water swimming, diving under the water," Condon said. "I've been taking him out kayaking and he's been dragging his bill in the water hoping fish might swim in. He's very optimistic."
So the crew had a light bulb moment and decided to plant some fish for Big Bird, teaching him how to fend for himself. See the video of his fishing lesson below!
