A member of staff at the Green Rabbit Animal and Plant Theme Park in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, came to the rescue of a pigeon that was being swallowed by a pelican.

According to Mr Li, an eyewitness, he was visiting the theme park with his family when he witnessed the scene of the pelican swallowing the pigeon. He immediately notified the staff, who promptly took action, chased the pelican, and managed to rescue the pigeon from its large beak.

The staff revealed that this pelican has exhibited such behaviour before; it seems to have a habit of "eating its colleagues".

8月27日，在陕西西安绿兔子动植物主题乐园内，一只鹈鹕吞下了一只鸽子，随后被迅速赶到的工作人员从口中成功救出鸽子。

据目击者李先生介绍，当时他带着家人在该主题乐园游玩时，目睹了鹈鹕吞食鸽子的惊险一幕。便立即通知了工作人员，工作人员迅速采取行动，追赶鹈鹕并成功地从其巨大的喙中解救出了鸽子。

据工作人员透露，这只鹈鹕并非首次表现出此类行为，不是第一次了，似乎有“吃同事”的习惯。

鹈鹕的嘴巴长度是身体的1/3，喙部的上部分和其他鸟类无异，神奇的是它们喙部的下端：是一层由皮肤结构组成的囊状结构，这个部位叫做“喉囊”，科学家认为，鹈鹕的喉囊是由喉部皮肤进化而来，目的是适应水中捕食，张嘴、兜嘴、闭嘴，一套操作行云流水。不过后来人们发现，鹈鹕用嘴巴吃东西，有时候不是出于自然的针对性捕食行为，它们只是出于好奇想把一切东西放到自己嘴里。

鹈鹕吞下鸽子“同事” 工作人员及时救出


On August 27, at the Green Rabbit Animal and Plant Theme Park in Xi'an, Shaanxi, a pelican swallowed a pigeon, but the park staff quickly arrived and successfully rescued the pigeon from the pelican's mouth.

According to Mr. Li, an eyewitness, he was visiting the theme park with his family when he witnessed the thrilling scene of the pelican swallowing the pigeon. He immediately notified the staff, who promptly took action, chased the pelican, and managed to rescue the pigeon from its large beak.

The staff revealed that this pelican has exhibited such behavior before; it seems to have a habit of "eating its colleagues."

The pelican's beak is about one-third the length of its body. The upper part of the beak is similar to that of other birds, but what sets it apart is the lower part: a pouch-like structure made of skin called the "gular pouch." Scientists believe that the pelican's gular pouch evolved from the skin of the throat to adapt to catching prey in the water; it opens, scoops, and closes its beak in a seamless process. However, it has also been observed that pelicans sometimes use their beaks out of curiosity, putting all sorts of things into their mouths, not necessarily as part of natural predatory behavior.

**Pelican Swallows Pigeon "Colleague"; Staff Rescue Just in Time**