10,000 Birds

JANUARY 15, 2014

Fish and Wildlife Service has announced the death of two Whooping Cranes in Hopkins County, Kentucky. Making bad news worse, officials speculate that the Whooping Cranes likely weren’t killed by hunters, but instead by thrill-seekers. What thrill there is in murdering an endangered species, I’ll never know.).

Kentucky 218

Kentucky Killing Endangered Species United States 218

10,000 Birds

FEBRUARY 8, 2014

The female was killed but experts suggest the male will survive, although perhaps without the ability to fly. The pair shot last year in Kentucky belonged to Operation Migration’s project establishing a migratory flock in the eastern United States; there is also the last true wild flock , which winters in Texas and summers in Canada.)

Louisiana 253

Louisiana Kentucky Hunters United States 253

10,000 Birds

MARCH 20, 2011

So, one might surmise, it’s OK if they get shot by hunters thinking they’re sandhill cranes? 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 239

2011 Hunting Kentucky Hunters 239