Hello tweets,

I am sending a few stories that you might be
interested to read. This one is about the Whooping
Cranes that were shot by several hunters.
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http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/10152497.htm

Agent: 7 hunters admit shooting two endangered
whooping cranes

Associated Press

WICHITA, Kan. - Seven hunters who admitted they shot
two endangered whooping cranes in Stafford County say
they mistook the endangered birds for sandhill cranes,
a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent says.

armers found the injured cranes Saturday three miles
west of the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge in
south-central Kansas. One crane died Wednesday at
Kansas State University Veterinary Medical Center in
Manhattan; the other is still recovering from its
injuries.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service agent Kenny Kessler
said Wednesday that seven men, all from southwest
Kansas, have confessed to shooting the birds.
Authorities interviewed the men Tuesday based on
leads, Kessler said.

Charges have not been filed, and authorities won't
release the hunters' names until the U.S. Attorney's
office in Wichita reviews the case, Kessler said.

Someone convicted of killing an endangered species
such as the whooping crane could be sentenced to up to
a one year in prison and could be fined up to
$100,000.

The hunters told authorities it was early morning on
the opening day of goose and sandhill crane season
when they shot three whooping cranes, wounding two.
The men said they thought the birds were sandhills and
they believed the birds would survive after watching
them fly off.

Jim Kellenberger, a hunting education instructor and
retired game warden, said the conditions aren't an
excuse for shooting the birds.

"We teach all the kids in hunter education that you
have to identify the target before you pull the
trigger," Kellenberger said. "If you can't ID
something, you just don't shoot."

The surviving bird could be shipped to a captive
breeding facility in Maryland once its health is
stabilized. It suffered a broken wing, which was
operated on Sunday morning.

The other whooping crane's leg was amputated. An
autopsy will be conducted at a Fish and Wildlife lab
in Oregon, Kessler said.

The cranes were part of a flock of about 230 that
migrates from Canada's Wood Buffalo National Park to
the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge on the Texas Gulf
Coast each winter.

At 5 feet tall, whooping cranes are North America's
tallest birds and one of the world's rarest.


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Devorah A. N. Bennu, PhD
Independent Scholar and
Research Associate,
American Museum of Natural History
birdologist [at] yahoo [dot] com
public blog: http://girlscientist.blogspot.com



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