Saturday, March 28, 2009

Raptor News, Good and Bad

Spain is worried about its vultures and wants to help them by allowing carcasses to be left out for them. Good for them. I'll buy it all but "killing cows"-- Golden eagles will kill calves, but Griffon vultures on cows?? HT Reid.

Meanwhile, a few American Indians continue to slaughter Eagles for feathers and profit, and, worse, try to justify it. It is particularly hard for falconers, who obviously love the birds, to hear-- we are more tightly regulated on this species than on any other. HT Annie Hocker.

1 comment:

Brenda Lyons said...

It's sad to hear of people killing eagles for their feathers, but to try and sell them for a profit? That seems to me to be against the beliefs by Native Americans that the birds are sacred and deserve respect. I know that long ago, Native Americans would only kill eagles in very specific circumstances, with specific rituals. It was a very important event and was not taken lightly, and never for 'profit.'

I always thought the federal laws regarding possession of raptor feathers was a bit over-the-top, but it's things like this that remind me how unfortunately necessary they are.