People across Devon are being asked to look out for a big white bird after a pelican escaped from a county zoo.

The bird escaped on Monday and Exmoor Zoo is asking people to keep an eye out and report any sightings.

A spokesman said: "One of our pelicans has gone AWOL, flying off on free wings. If you see a large white bird it is most probably ours and a call on 01598 763352 press 1 would be much appreciated. Thanks."

Pelicans normally eat fish but will also take amphibians, turtles, crustaceans, insects, birds and small mammals.

There are eight species of pelicans which live across the globe, except for South America, the poles and open oceans.

Pelicans live in inland and coastal waters. In ancient Egypt they were associated with death, eating pelican is forbidden in Jewish law and prison island Alcatraz derives its name from the pelican's pouch.

Workers at the zoo were cutting the feathers on flock of pink-backed pelicans when one escaped.

The bird has a 2.5m - or eight feet - wingspan and could have covered 50 miles by now.

Danny Reynolds, from the Barnstaple based zoo, said there had been no sightings of the bird but if it was spotted in an "easy" location, the zoo would send a capture team.

It would have dropped down from the sky during the rain last night and could likely be at a lake or reservoir.

It is not known which direction the three-year-old bird was heading when it flew from a tree at the zoo on Monday, at around 2pm.

Danny, 59, animal collections officer, said the male bird was four-years-old and has been in Devon for the past 18 months.

He said: "He came from a zoo in Holland, his temperament is lovely but he wont let anyone approach him. He wasn't hand reared, he was parent reared.

"If anyone spots him they won't be able to get close, he'll let people get to about 20 or 30 feet then he will fly off or paddle off.

"We have a flock of ten here that we keep free range on the lake and every so often we trim off their flight feathers so they stay with us.

"They can still fly but not very well, we're very careful.

"As we were doing that he got upset and he managed to get enough lift to sit in a tree by the lake.

"Instead of coming back down, the wind picked up and he was able to get more lift and get to enough height to glide away. That's what they do.

"We heard he was going over the dual carriageway yesterday at about 5pm but we haven't heard anything today.

"It was bad weather last night so he will have taken shelter. It's still bad weather so I imagine he will be where ever he landed last night.

"I imagine we'll hear something Thursday or Friday, I'm 50 per cent confident we'll get him back.

"Because of his size he may have made it to south Wales, that's only about 20 miles as the pelican flies.

"We'll have to wait and see. He may have landed in some one's garden and be sitting in their pond.

"If anyone does see him you should stop and admire him - in flight he looks like a yacht floating in the water, they're wonderful birds."