MOULTRIE —
A second reward in the death of a whooping crane has been offered in as many month, the latest related to one of the rare birds found dead at its winter home in Alabama.
Three cranes were found dead Dec. 30 in Calhoun County, Ga. Rewards totaling $20,800 have been offered in that case for information leading to the capture and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the deaths.
Initial necropsies of the birds indicated that they died of gunshot wounds, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said.
The body of the fourth bird was found Jan. 28 at Weiss Lake in Cherokee County, Ala. Investigators believe it also had been shot.
A $6,000 reward has been offered for information in that case.
The bird found in Alabama made the migration from Wisconsin to the Chassohowitzka National Wildlife Refuge in Florida in fall 2004. Last year it wintered at Lake Weiss.
It is not uncommon for cranes who are taught migration routes from Wisconsin to Florida to find other winter homes, said Tom MacKenzie, a spokesman for the Fish and Wildlife Service. Several are now wintering in South Carolina.
MacKenzie said there is no new information on the three cranes killed in Georgia.
Prior to the shootings there were about 400 whooping cranes in the wild worldwide, so the deaths represent a 1 percent thinning of their numbers in a matter of days.
“To have two in the space of two months is a disaster, to say the least,” MacKenzie said. “I’m a hunter myself and I know this does nothing for the image of hunting. I hope we can find them.”
Jim Gale, special agent in charge of law enforcement for the agency’s Southwest Region, also expressed frustration.
“We are extremely disappointed by the killing of this whooping crane,” he said. “We recently lost three whooping cranes to gunfire in south Georgia, now this one in Alabama. This senseless killing has just got to stop.”
Information about the birds killed in Georgia can be reported to Terry Hasting, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service special agent, at (404) 763-7959, or to the Georgia Department of Natural Resources’ 24-hour hotline at 1-800-241-4113.
The killings of the birds could be prosecuted under either the Endangered Species Act or the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, MacKenzie said. Under the former the maximum penalty would be a $50,000 fine and one year in federal prison, and under the latter a maximum of a $15,000 fine and year of federal time per incident.
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