The great white pelican is one of the largest flying birds in the world, with a wingspan of nearly three meters. Although it is rather clumsy on land, it is fast and graceful in the water or in the air.
Great white pelicans are exploited for many reasons. The pouch is used to make tobacco bags, the skin is turned into leather, the guano is used as fertilizer, and the fat of young pelicans is converted into oils for traditional medicine in China and India. Human disturbance, loss of foraging habitat and breeding sites, and pollution are all contributing to its decline.