Paphos harbour’s famous pelican gains a companion

A second pelican, named Chris, has taken up residence alongside Kokos, the bird that has become a landmark of Paphos harbour, according to a video posted on social media on Tuesday. The footage shows the two birds together at Kato Paphos harbour, next to the Pelican restaurant. The restaurant’s family traces the story to 1967, when fishermen found an exhausted pelican with an injured wing at sea and took it to the Aphrodite tavern, which had opened in 1957; the bird recovered and subsequently chose to stay. The restaurant took the name Pelican in 1969 due to the attention the bird attracted. The first Kokos died in 1972 after being run over by a car, and other pelicans have since carried the name. The previous Kokos died in April 2021 at the age of 25, and a younger bird of the same name took over the following month. The pelican has appeared on television in several countries, including on the BBC, and features on postcards.