Whimbrel Survives Tropical Storm, Shot in Caribbean :(

[Donna]

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/09/13/whimbrel-survives-tropical-storm-shot-in-caribbean/

A migrating Whimbrel named Machi has been shot on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, French West Indies.

[MAK]

  What a shame! 

[Kris G.]

That's just terrible. What a loss. 

[Bobbie Ireland]

Just saw on the Cornell site that a second Whimbrel has been shot!

http://www.birds.cornell.edu/roundrobin/2011/09/15/second-tracked-whimbrel-dies-in-guadeloupe/

 

[MAK]

Heavy sigh! 

[Donna]

http://www.birdlife.org/community/2011/09/shooting-of-whimbrels-sparks-calls-for-regulation-of-shorebird-hunting-in-the-caribbean/

Shooting of Whimbrels sparks calls for regulation of shorebird hunting in the Caribbean. Two Whimbrels Numenius phaeopus tracked by scientists from a US university have been shot by hunters on the Caribbean island of Guadeloupe, highlighting the continuing lack of protection for migratory shorebirds in this important part of their flyway.

[MAK]

  I just don't get why a person would shoot a bird with a transmitter on it! 

[Donna]

Shooting of birds in Caribbean stirs flap over hunting

http://hamptonroads.com/2011/09/shooting-birds-caribbean-stirs-flap-over-hunting

Machi and Goshen the whimbrels were born in the Arctic, vacationed in Virginia and died this week in the Caribbean - killed by hunters and mourned by the scientists who tracked them.