Well, this doesn’t seem to make much sense:
The Port Authority doesn’t give a hoot about the lives of snowy owls.
The agency that oversees the city’s airports has added the majestic snowy owl to the list of birds it kills to protect airplanes from bird strikes.
The Port Authority’s “wildlife specialists” started exterminating the owls Saturday, killing three at JFK Airport with a shotgun, a Port Authority source said.
Because, you know, trapping and releasing them elsewhere would just be too much work…
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
This, on top of the Bald Eagle post from yesterday, does not make for a good beginner to the week…
What’s wrong with just trapping them and releasing them a considerable distance anyway? I’m quite sure both sides have some sort of argument, just curious as to why the airport people can’t do that..
Trigger-happy springs to mind.
The Governor’s office in NYC is the place to call to register your opposition: (212) 681-4573. Call takes just a moment. Simply say you are calling in opposition to the snowy owls shootings at JFK and they’ll ask for your zip code. Help us tell the Port Authority that snowy owls are valued and there are better ways to insure aircraft safety.
http://m.nydailynews.com/1.1541823
People can also sign a petition calling for an end to the shooting of Snowy Owls at JFK.
A thorough list of contacts, put together by Seth Ausubel, included the following:
(1) You can contact the Port Authority directly by sending a message from their web site at: http://www.panynj.gov/contact/contact-us.htm
(2) Contact the NYSDEC Region 2 Natural Resources Supervisor at R2natres@gw.dec.state.ny.us and ask them to engage with the Port Authority to stop the practice of shooting the owls.
Also, you can write or call Governor Cuomo at:
New York State Governor’s Correspondence Unit
1 Commerce Plaza
99 Washington Ave.
Albany, NY 12231
(518) 474-8390