Update from the Field
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: NOVEMBER 4, 2005
Undercover Earth First! Activists Capture Brutal Sandhill Crane Slaughter On Tape
CONTACT:
Tucson: Ben Pachano, (520) 623-9184 (day); (520) 884-0283 (evening/weekend)
Phoenix: Ray Leimkuhler, (480) 446-7451
sabthebastards (at) hotmail.com
Camouflaged Earth First! activists, hidden in the killing fields outside of Willcox during the opening days of the Arizona Game and Fish Department’s (AGFD’s) sandhill crane hunt, captured shocking evidence of the hunt’s inherent brutality and witnessed blatant hunting violations by a local hunting guide. For the second year, EF! activists are in the field documenting abuses that AGFD will do nothing about.
Footage collected by activists from Chuk’shon Earth First! and Phoenix Earth First! on November 1-3 shows a hunter repeatedly slamming a wounded bird against farm equipment. It also shows the touching scene of three cranes breaking away from the safety of their flock to protect a shotgunned crane with a broken wing, calling to each other plaintively. The birds only abandon their companion when the hunter emerges to chase the wounded bird around the field, firing four more shots before picking up the dying bird and slamming it, too, against a fencepost.
“This footage exposes the crane hunt for the senseless blood sport that it is: the killing of intensely social animals for nothing but fun,” said Ben Pachano of Chuk’shon EF!.
Earth First!ers also observed Steven Ward of Ward’s Outfitters (www.wardsoutfitters.com) and his client illegally hunting from the road on the morning of November 2; AGFD patrols were nowhere to be seen.
That such blatant cruelty and illegality could be captured so randomly by civilian investigators on the first two days of the hunt gives the lie to AGFD’s claims of “managing today for wildlife tomorrow.” The new revelations only lend more weight to Earth First’s demand: an immediate end to all crane hunting in Arizona. At the very least, AGFD should enact a moratorium until such abuses can be prevented.
Sandhill cranes, a migratory species watched by thousands of birders every year, were nearly wiped out by overhunting in the 20th century. Despite the fact that this species is still recovering from its brush with extinction, AGFD authorized the largest-ever sandhill crane hunt in Arizona this year, giving out permits for 730 cranes to be killed. 35,000 sandhill cranes are killed or crippled annually by sport hunters in 13 states along their migratory route from Siberia to northern Mexico.
“Why should we wait until a species is almost extinct before protecting it? Let’s make Arizona a pioneer in conservation—one state, at least, where the cranes can get a break,” said Ray Leimkuhler of Phoenix EF!.
The activists have vowed to remain in the field for the rest of the season, and to be there every year until the hunt is stopped.