14 Bald Eagles Found Killed In North Vancouver

[truthpusher]

http://www.komoradio.com/stories/35148.htm

14 Bald Eagles Found Killed In North Vancouver

February 6, 2005

By KOMO Staff & News Services

VANCOUVER, B.C. - A flash of white feathers lured Julie Bryson-McElwee's dog into the bush.

She followed when he didn't come back. A dead bald eagle lay on the forest floor.

Lunging to keep her pet away from the carcass, Bryson-McElwee stumbled across a shallow grave containing 14 of the protected birds. The legs and tail feathers had been cut off, possibly for sale on the black market.

"It's just sickening," Bryson-McElwee said. "Whoever did this had a real operation going, there were garbage bags all around the grave and in it. It looked to me like they were killed somewhere else and brought here to be buried."

Complete story:

http://www.komoradio.com/stories/35148.htm

[tk2kewl]

1. killed for *bush's war bonnet, no doubt

:puke:

[Rex]

2. Killed for their legs and tail feathers.

How symbolic of our 'patriotic' society - nothing is sacred anymore.

[jdj]

3. well this was Canada.

And I like to think Canadians are smarter than us.

"About half of the world's 70,000 bald eagles live in Alaska. Combined with British Columbia's population of about 20,000, the northwest coast of North America is by far their greatest stronghold".

[amazona]

4. these used to be sold in the former West Germany

Apparently there was a fad of Germans playing at being Native Americans and for some reason eagle claws and feathers had to be part of this game. I haven't heard of this being done in years though. I would have hoped the fad had passed. I hope whoever is responsible is caught and properly prosecuted but I would not assume the guilty party is an American. It did happen in Canada and there are apparently other black markets for these items.

The conservation movement is a breeding ground of communists
and other subversives. We intend to clean them out,
even if it means rounding up every birdwatcher in the country.
--John Mitchell, US Attorney General 1969-72

[Retired AF Dem]

5. Maybe Americans are bad

at geography. :)

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. Well, I do have a sad thought.

Are there any Vancouver Indian tribes that hold bald eagles in high regard as part of traditional rituals? I'm not trying to inflame, just trying to ask a common sensical question.

[Bridget Burke]

7. I doubt traditional rituals involve garbage bags.

Probably the feathers will end up in fake "Indian style" art.

[Lisa]

8. there was an episode like this a few years ago on Vancouver Island

Eagle carcasses, with the valuable parts missing, were dumped in the woods. Bear poaching (for the paws and organs) is a problem too.

There are people around who will shoot the birds (and from what I hear, it's legal if they are hanging around your chicken coop or fish farm) -- but the fact there are a whole bunch of them all discardedin the same place, looks like it's one or a small group of people who are responsible.

In some of the rural areas up here, there are some (not all, but they definitely exist) who have the attitude that government regulations are useless/oppressive, and if they want to make a buck by killing "vermin", why shouldn't they. ("Vermin" is anything that can't be harvested and sold openly, or anything that eats fish, livestock, etc.) Unemployment and poverty are also higher especially since the mines and mills started closing, which may be a factor as well. The aboriginal elders have denounced these incidents -- I don't know whether the culprit(s) in this case are white, or natives who just don't care.