Pierre the Pelican to Get Reconstructive Beak Surgery, Stop Horrifying Children

Be thankful Big Easy, this crazed monster is off the streets. (via @PelicansNBA)

New Orleans' NBA franchise underwent an enormous  rebrand recently -- from being named the Hornets to the more NOLA-representative name of Pelicans -- that included a fun new mascot, Pierre The Pelican, unveiled shortly before the start of this season.

Well, fun if you like being terrified by enormous, demon-possessed birds.

Luckily, the team caught wind of everyone's lost sleep -- not to mention the horrified children attending its games -- and decided to give the spawn of Big Bird and Freddy Krueger a makeover.

But what would a mascot makeover be without a fun backstory pumped out by the team's PR machine:

NEW ORLEANS – New Orleans Pelicans mascot, Pierre, suffered a broken beak on Saturday, Feb. 8 at the Pelicans Practice Facility during a pickup game of basketball with fellow NBA mascots Grizz (Memphis Grizzlies), Rocky (Denver Nuggets) and Slamson (Sacramento Kings), as well as NFL mascot, Gumbo (New Orleans Saints).

The story of Pierre’s injury and recovery will air during halftime on Fox Sports New Orleans’ broadcast of the Pelicans’ match-up with the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday, Feb. 12. Tip-off is slated for 7:00 p.m.

The injury occurred late in the pickup game as Pierre drove to the basket and was fouled by Grizz on the play. He sustained a broken beak after running into the padded stanchion on the goal.

Later today, Pierre will have surgery at Ochsner Medical Center to reconstruct the broken beak. Pelicans Team Physician Dr. Mathew McQueen will perform the surgery.

Here's what the injury looked like: