A pelican named Mr. Percival and his mate live at Twinnies Pelican Sanctuary in Australia. For six years, the couple had been trying to have chicks, but they never succeeded. Percival dutifully took turns sitting on the eggs with the female pelican, but none of the eggs hatched.
Everything changed last September when the reserve staff decided to help the couple. They saw how sad the parents were and put another pelican's egg in the couple's nest, which had recently hatched! Both the couple and the staff were happy.
"Mr. Percival was very proud when the chick hatched. He made us all cry. It was immediately clear that the new parents were in love with their offspring," the staff wrote on the sanctuary's page.
From the moment the chick arrives in the family, Mr. Percival has been responsively caring for it, demonstrating his fine fatherly qualities. He shares the baby's care with his partner, and the chick, meanwhile, grows up healthy and happy.
Mr. Percival was rescued on Chambers Island in Queensland. He was entangled in fishing lines and hooks, and once lost a wing due to severe trauma. After that, he was taken to a sanctuary where he has been taken care of for 18 years.
Source: natgeo.com
This might also interest you:
