Entertainment

Pelicans transported from Prague Zoo to make London their home

The three great white pelicans will make their home in St James’s Park.
The three great white pelicans will make their home in St James’s Park. The three great white pelicans will make their home in St James’s Park.

Three great white pelicans are on their way from Prague Zoo to London to join a famed flock that has lived in St James’s Park since the 17th century.

Keepers carefully carried the birds one-by-one on Thursday morning into cages in a van, which will drive 17 hours to London.

This is the third time the zoo has sent pelicans to St James’s Park. It gave four birds to the park in 1995, and three others followed in 2013.

The birds will join the pelican flock already in the park (Petr David Josek/AP) (Petr David Josek/AP/PA Images)

Prague Zoo first gave pelicans to the park as they were one of the few centres in Europe capable of breeding the birds.

Two males, Sun and Moon, and a female named Star, who were born in February, will join the current colony of three in London.

Pelicans were first introduced to St James’s Park in 1664 as a gift to King Charles II from a Russian ambassador and more than 40 of the birds have since lived there.