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New Zealand Deerstalkers' Association shoot endangered takahe birds.
"Hunters in New Zealand have accidentally shot dead four critically endangered takahe birds after mistaking them for another species, it's reported."
Oh ****. :yikes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-34002493
"The incident occurred when members of the Deerstalkers' Association were permitted to cull up to 600 of the abundant pukeko at a sanctuary on Motutapu Island, off the coast of the country's North Island, the New Zealand Herald reports.
The Department of Conservation confirmed that hunters had made the "deeply disappointing" mistake, despite being briefed on the differences between the two species."
Mind you, easy done.
They are both blue.
No shoot.
Shoot.
Neither look like deer.
Oh ****. :yikes:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/blogs-news-from-elsewhere-34002493
"The incident occurred when members of the Deerstalkers' Association were permitted to cull up to 600 of the abundant pukeko at a sanctuary on Motutapu Island, off the coast of the country's North Island, the New Zealand Herald reports.
The Department of Conservation confirmed that hunters had made the "deeply disappointing" mistake, despite being briefed on the differences between the two species."
Mind you, easy done.
They are both blue.
No shoot.
Shoot.
Neither look like deer.
Replies
The legal bird clearly has black on it while the other doesn't. And their tails are distinctive. If they were using scoped small bore rifles to cull the birds, I would argue their opportunity to positively identify the correct species is made better.
Moreover, they killed four. Why not shoot one and identify before proceeding?
I think fines are still in order here. If the bird is truly endangered and non-migratory, then punitive action is warranted.
Obviously the guys doing the cull couldn't differentiate between birds in flight and birds walking. And considering they were using shotguns with the obvious range limitations inherent, seems like they left their seeing eye dogs at home............
Bunch of bloody idiots.
( I have done hundreds of culls over the past 30yrs as a Wildlife Ranger. I learnt at a very early stage that a lot of the 'volunteers' that put their hands up to take part are only interested in trigger time and can be 'slack' when it comes to identifying target species. That's why, when I carry out culls, I refuse to accept 'volunteer' help and only take guys that I know I can trust. )
Here is a better pic to show the difference between the 2 species...........
Edited to add pic:
Alec, is there a ground shooting issue here for pukeko's as well or would the cull permit negate that?
The shooters also failed to report that they had killed four takahe until rangers found the animals a few days later, they attempted to get away with it as well. Hope some nice hefty fines get levied.
When carrying out a cull, normally some of the 'Game' rules are suspended. ( Things like unpinned shotguns, bag limits, firearms used, shooting birds in their flightless stage etc) The last Pukeko cull I carried out was by using a suppressed .22 with subsonics.
This was not the case here!
The instructions were explicit. Shotguns only and all birds must be shot while in flight.
What also pisses me off is that DOC decided to ask the NZDA to carry out the cull. Why on earth they didn't contact the local Fish & Game Council surprises me. F&G have both full time Rangers and Honorary Rangers that are required to be able to identify all native birds to retain their Warrants. The resource is there, but probably due to inter-service rivalry, DOC chose not to use them.