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KwaZulu-Natal

10,000 Birds

At first the Zulu King Dingaan gained the upper hand by slaughtering a large contingent of Boers (including their leaders Piet Retief and Gert Maritz) but the infamous Battle of Blood River in 1838 lead to a division of the territory between what was later known as Natal to the south and Zululand to the north. Image by Hugh Chittenden.

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Comebackers

10,000 Birds

Kirtland’s Warbler is a classic niche species; they breed in only very specific conditions, which occur in only a very specific area. That is a big difference compared to the 2,000+ singing males detected in 2012, well above the recovery goal for this species set by the U.S. this species breeds.

Albatross 199
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The Nonessential Whooping Crane

10,000 Birds

Another 170 are in captivity, many of them breeding stock for reintroduction efforts. What could motivate gunmen (I cannot call them hunters) in two states to deliberately kill North America’s tallest and most critically endangered bird? It may be as sick as deliberately targeting an endangered species for death.

2011 240