UPDATE from the NEW YORK TIMES:
Airport officials in New York are starting a program to trap and relocate snowy owls after reports that the birds were being killed with a shotgun at Kennedy International Airport.
Snowy owls pose a threat at airports in the region, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said in a statement on Monday evening. In the past two weeks, five planes at Kennedy, La Guardia and Newark Liberty International Airports were struck by snowy owls, the agency said.
“The Port Authority’s goal is to strike a balance in humanely controlling bird populations at and around the agency’s airports to safeguard passengers on thousands of aircrafts each day,” the agency said.
The New York Daily News reported on Monday that airports had added snowy owls to the list of birds it kills. Three snowy owls have been shot at Kennedy Airport since Saturday, a Port Authority source told the newspaper.
Snowy owls, large birds usually found in northern Canada and Alaska, have been migrating to the region in far higher numbers than usual this year, the agency said.
Many people were outraged by the owl killings. An online petition asking the Port Authority to stop shooting the birds had more than 3,000 signatures by Monday evening.
The petition, addressed to Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and the New York State Senate, called the practice of shooting the animals “barbaric and unnecessary.”
In Boston, conservation groups have been capturing and relocating snowy owls at Logan International Airport for years. Experts say the birds often stop at airports because the airfields look similar to the Arctic tundra where they live.
The problem of bird strikes at airports received increased attention after a plane crashed into the Hudson River in 2009 because Canada geese were sucked into the engine.
For those of you who have not heard, the NY/NJ Port Authority has added Snowy Owls to a list of species which are to be killed if located at airports under their control. Apparently a Snowy Owl was recently sucked into aplane's engine at JFK (no injuries to humans) and as such, the PA authorized the killing of these birds. Since then, at least two Snowy Owls have been killed via shotgun at the airport. Snowy Owls killed at JFK
Logan Airport in Boston has had a successful trap and release program, and 20 owls have been caught and relocated this year alone. Logan Airport Approach to Snowy Owls
The killing of these birds has been reported in area newspapers and news channels but I don't believe it's on a national level yet.
If you would like to let the Port Authority to know that you do not support the killing of these birds, you have several options. You can leave messages on the Governor of NY's facebook or tweet him (NY Governor Facebook and Cuomo@NYGovCuomo)
You e-mail the General Inspector of the Port Authority @: InspectorGeneral@panynj.gov
You can sign the Change.org petition @: Change Petition
Or you can call the Port Authority or Governor's Office to lodge a complaint. Thank you for your time and consideration and hopefully this will be stopped quickly.
- Luke
The airport has got to find a better solution than this...
ReplyDeleteThe Port Authority announced last night that they are changing their approach to managing the owls. They will be working with the NYSDEC to trap and relocate owls at the airports.
ReplyDeleteYes I saw that - thank you. Will update now
ReplyDelete