Crime victim of a different feather subject of a search

Search parties combed the San Fernando Valley for traces of the wounded victim. Outraged citizens pledged $6,000 of their own money for the perpetrator’s capture. Posters pleading for leads in the case were plastered all over the city.

But a week after the American white pelican was spotted with its beak punctured by an arrow, hope for the bird’s rescue is running out.

The search has been frustrating and draining for Rebecca Dmytryk, a wildlife rescue specialist who was brought in from Northern California to lead the operation.

“I just don’t understand human beings and how they can be so cruel,” said Dmytryk, who made the trek from her home in Monterey last week on behalf of the International Bird Rescue Research Center.

The Los Angeles Department of Animal Services received a report Jan. 8 of a pelican with a bright red-and-blue arrow skewered through its bill near Lake Balboa in the Sepulveda Dam Recreation Area.

Wildlife experts worried the pelican would soon starve to death without the use of its bill, but the bird evaded capture because the species is particularly wary of humans.

Dmytryk, who has been working in wildlife rescue for over 25 years, assembled a search crew of former colleagues and enlisted local bird watchers to keep an eye out for the injured pelican. But reports of sightings stopped last Wednesday.

“If he hasn’t succumbed by now, I think his days are really limited,” Dmytryk said.

As prospects dim for the bird’s rescue, people are focusing more on finding the person responsible for its injury.

Dmytryk’s crew initially believed the bird was hit by a hunting arrow and hoped to identify the shooter because hunters often personalize their projectiles. But archers said it was a cheap toy-like arrow that could be purchased at many sporting goods stores.

That angered Dmytryk all the more because that means the shot was made intentionally at close range. A toy arrow would not be able to puncture the bird’s bill from afar.

Dmytryk and her husband put in $1,000 for the reward, while the Humane Society of the United States promised $2,500.

Numerous pledges have been flooding in, and Dmytryk hopes the sum will soon surpass $10,000. “Somebody out there knows who did it,” she said. “More than likely, the person’s bragging.”

The white pelican is protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act and is categorized as a “species of special concern” by the state Department of Fish and Game.

If captured, the shooter could receive a short prison term or a fine, said Paul Bruce, regional program coordinator for the Humane Society.

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victoria.kim@latimes.com