Great white pelicans breed in large colonies in the Danube Delta and East African lakes, with welfare considerations around colony disturbance, human-wildlife conflict, and fishing gear entanglement.
Pelican colonies disturbed by boats or human intrusion flush en masse, abandoning nests and exposing eggs and chicks to predation and heat stress. Chicks that fall from disturbed nests cannot return and die from starvation or predation. Adults entangled in fishing gear face drowning or prolonged injury requiring rehabilitation. Pelicans that become habituated to fish discard at fishing boats face higher entanglement risk and may develop dependence on supplementary feeding. Poisoning from fish carcasses contaminated with lead fishing sinkers causes progressive neurological disease.