Grus americana

 Photo: Johann Schmacher/Vireo/Audubon

  JAIL FOR WHOOPING CRANE KILLERS

The recent convictions of shooters in Texas and Louisiana have sent messages that shooting a Whopping Crane is a serious offence and that the shooter faces time in jail, fines and other penalties.   In October, 2016, a young man was sentenced to five years of federal probation after pleading guilty to a violation of the Endangered Species Act for the 2016 shooting deaths  of two Whooping Cranes belonging to a reintroduced flock in Louisiana.   He was back in federal court for violating the terms of his probation, for using a semi-automatic rifle to hunt from a roadway in Texas.   The probation terms prohibited his owning or possessing firearms, ammunition or any other dangerous weapon.   He is also prohibited from hunting or fishing anywhere in the U.S.A. A U.S. Magistrate Judge sentenced the man to 11 months in jail to be followed by a one-year term of supervised release.   The judge waived the 200 hours of community service of the 2016 sentence, so the convicted man could work to obtain money to pay two restitution amounts of $12,907.50 each to the International Crane Foundation and to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Foundation.

USDA photo by John Noll

In a separate case, in 2014, a Whooping Crane was found in Louisiana with a gunshot wound and had to be euthanized because of the injury.   Louisiana officials investigated the shooting.   In 2017, a 21-year-old man pleaded guilty in federal court, to violations that included hunting birds out of season, hunting from a vehicle on a public road, not having a valid hunting licence, and wanton waste of migratory game birds.   The man had also been arrested in 2015 of felony witness-intimidation charges.   He made guilty pleas and was sentenced to 45 days in federal prison for each of the five convictions to run concurrently and a $2,500 fine.   The fine must be paid within one year, or the man will have to serve 45 days in federal prison for each of the five convictions to run consecutively.  

Please comment if you wish.

BarrytheBirder