Sandhill cranes were on the brink of extinction early in the last century. I was surprised to learn that 13 states allow hunting of this magnificent creature. Sometimes the hunters can't distinguish between sandhill cranes and whooping cranes, which are protected.
Endangered birds' deaths lead some to seek changes to hunting season
LAWRENCE (AP) - Some bird enthusiasts are seeking changes to Kansas' sandhill crane hunting season after the deaths of two whooping cranes that hunters say they mistakenly shot.
The hunters said they mistook the endangered birds for sandhills, and at least one group, Lawrence's Jayhawk Audubon Society, wants sandhill crane hunting outlawed.
Susan Iversen, conservation chair of Lawrence's Jayhawk Audubon Society, noted that sandhills and whooping cranes can be found together.
"As long as there is a crane hunting season in Kansas, more whooping cranes will eventually be killed," she said.
The Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission has scheduled a hearing for Jan. 20 in Topeka to hear recommendations from the public about sandhill crane hunting. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service also is looking at whether changes are needed.
Some hunters, however, fear officials may wind up punishing all Kansas hunters for the actions of a few.
"That's not right," said Forrest Gough, a hunting guide from Scott City.
While the Lawrence chapter of the Audubon Society wants the hunting of sandhills to be abolished, the statewide Audubon Society has recommended Kansas merely change some of its regulations. The suggestions include having shooting start at 9 a.m. rather than sunrise, when visibility is worse, and starting the season later so that more whooping cranes will have already passed through Kansas during their fall migration from Canada to Texas.
The sandhill crane hunting season runs from Nov. 6 to Jan. 2 in Kansas.
Farmers found the two whooping cranes the first day of hunting season in a field southeast of Great Bend. Both later died.
Gough said a later start to the season would pretty much do away with sandhill crane hunting because pheasant hunting scares away most cranes by mid- to late-November.
He wouldn't mind if the daily start time were changed. But whatever time hunting starts, he said, hunters must be aware that whooping cranes are sometimes with sandhills.
"As a guide, we will not raise a gun until we are positive of what we are shooting at," he said.
People have been allowed to hunt sandhill cranes in Kansas since 1993. According to the state wildlife and parks department, 4,284 people have hunted 15,269 days, bagging 10,908 sandhill cranes in those 11 hunting seasons.
dodgeglobe.com |
