In 1903, Theodore Roosevelt inaugurated the first national wildlife refuge at Pelican Island, Florida, in order to rescue the Brown Pelican, among other species, from the plume trade. Despite such protections, the ubiquity of synthetic “agents of death,” most notably DDT, in the mid-twentieth century sent the Brown Pelican to the list of endangered species. By the mid-1960s, not one viable Pelican nest remained in all of Louisiana. Authorities declared the state bird locally extinct. Conservation efforts—including an outlandish but well-planned bird-napping—saved the Brown Pelican, generating one of the great success stories in animal preservation. However, the Brown Pelican is once again under threat, particularly along Louisiana’s coast, due to land loss and rising seas. For centuries, artists and writers have portrayed the Pelican as a bird that pierces its breast to feed its young, symbolizing saintly piety. Today, the Brown Pelican gives itself in other ways, sacrificed both by and for the environment as a bellwether bird—an indicator species portending potential disasters that await.

About the speaker: Rien Fertel is the author of four books on a variety of subjects, including Creole literature, barbecue, southern rock, and his home-state bird, the brown pelican. He has written for many print and online publications, including Time, the Wall Street Journal, and Audubon. He is a visiting professor of History at Tulane University and lives in New Orleans.

This is an in-person  event at Bellevue Botanical Gardens. Registration is REQUIRED for entry.

Picture : Brown Pelican by Mick Thompson