DFG Biologists Determine Cause of Pelican Deaths and Injuries

Media Contacts:
Todd Tognazzini, DFG Law Enforcement, (805) 610-3916
Andrew Hughan, DFG Communications, (916) 322-8944

Department of Fish and Game (DFG) biologists say that sea lions are responsible for a number of recent pelican deaths in the San Luis Obispo area.

Residents and local law enforcement have been finding the carcasses of California Brown Pelicans along the beaches for the past few days. More than a dozen of the large aquatic birds have been injured or killed by large puncture wounds.

Several of the birds were sent to a DFG marine research laboratory in Santa Cruz and necropsy results show that the wounds were caused by sea lions attacking and biting the birds.

DFG game wardens have noticed an increase in the numbers of small “bait fish” very near the shores and beaches in the San Luis harbor area recently. The abundant fish attract both sea lions and birds, and officials believe the sea lions are attacking the birds that get in the way while they are feeding .

Wardens interviewed one eyewitness, a kayaker, who said he saw a sea lion grab a pelican and drag it underwater before releasing it with a bite wound.

Animal rehabilitation facilities report this is not unusual behavior for marine mammals and similar injuries have been seen in other areas coastal regions throughout the state.

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Application Deadline Approaching for Game Warden Academy

Media Contact:    
Patrick Foy, DFG Law Enforcement Division, (916) 651-2084

Applications are now being accepted for the Department of Fish and Game (DFG) Warden Academy at Butte College in Oroville. The academy will begin in January 2013 and is scheduled to graduate in September 2013. The application deadline is Nov. 4, 2011.

A California Fish and Game Warden squad

The deadline for current peace officers to apply for a shortened lateral academy is Sept. 16, 2011 for an academy scheduled to begin in September 2012.

An increase in the number of applications received is expected as a result of the first season of “Wild Justice,” a reality show that premiered on the National Geographic Channel in November 2010. The popular show chronicles California game wardens’ efforts to combat poachers and polluters.

‘“Wild Justice” has given many hopeful candidates a clear picture of the intensive law enforcement nature of a game warden,” said DFG recruiter Lt. Jeff Longwell. “Game wardens are charged with ensuring public safety, investigating illegal sales of wildlife and parts thereof, protecting the state from pollution, enforcing habitat protection laws, fighting illegal drug trafficking, keeping the homeland secure and responding during natural disasters.”

A typical day for a California game warden is as diverse as the state’s fish and wildlife. Wardens have the opportunity to patrol ocean, desert, mountain and valley environments, as well as California’s urban areas. They frequently work independently and conduct full-scale law enforcement investigations. Wardens employ everything from all-terrain vehicles to jet skis to snowmobiles while on patrol, and spend much of a typical day making contact with Californians in the great outdoors. DFG has a dive team and uses K-9 partners as well. Environmental crimes and pollution incidents also fall under the purview of game wardens. Annually, wardens make contact with more than 295,000 people and issue more than 15,000 citations for violations of the law.

Successful lateral academy applicants will enter a 30-week program, followed by at least three, three-week long training assignments where they will work with a seasoned field training officer.

DFG’s academy at Butte College is Peace Officer Standards and Training certified. Cadets are trained to be police officers with specific emphasis on working as wardens.

In California, with 159,000 square miles that offer habitat and wildlife diversity unequaled by any other state, the average warden has a patrol district of more than 600 square miles. The state has more than 1,100 miles of coastline, 30,000 miles of rivers and streams, 4,800 lakes and reservoirs, three desert habitat areas and scores of high mountain peaks.

More information and applications are available at www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement. Applications are now being accepted online and must be postmarked by the due date for each category described above.

To learn more about game wardens, please view DFG’s new recruitment videos at www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/career.

Reward Offered to Catch Trout Thieves

Media Contact:
Patrick Foy, DFG Law Enforcement, (916) 508-7095

The Californians Turn In Poachers and Polluters program (CalTIP) will give up to $1,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of trout thieves. The thieves are responsible for stealing approximately 1,000 trout from the San Joaquin Hatchery last weekend. The toll-free, 24-hour CalTIP hotline is 888-334-2258. The value of the fish and the cost to repair the damage to the hatchery elevate the crime to a felony.

On Aug. 21, between 3 and 4 a.m., someone forced entry into the San Joaquin Trout Hatchery and stole up to 1,000 large trout. They also killed and left another 70 large trout in the process. The trout weighed three-to-four-pounds each and had been growing in the hatchery for three years. DFG wardens have collected evidence at the scene and hope to get additional information from anyone who may have seen someone trying to sell the trout.

Citizens are encouraged to be watchful for anyone attempting to sell trout on the street, outdoors markets, or markets where trout are not normally sold. Physical descriptions, vehicle license plate numbers, time, date and locations would be extremely helpful.

For details on the CalTIP program, please see www.dfg.ca.gov/enforcement/caltip.aspx.