No, whooping cranes are not what’s for dinner, as seven Kansas hunters learned the hard way. The seven, who admitted shooting and killing two of the rare whoopers last year during legal sandhill crane season, received their sentences last week, including a $3,000 fine each and loss of hunting privileges for two years.
The hunters got off fairly easy — under law, they could have been fined up to $15,000 and jailed for six months.
Although the men didn’t deserve jail time, a higher fine would have sent a stronger message that these rare birds are extremely valuable natural resources.
To prevent this from happening again, the Kansas Wildlife and Parks Commission in August made some appropriate changes in the sandhill season, moving the daily start time to 30 minutes after sunrise to avoid low-light confusion, and moving the opening date back four days.
It’s a pretty good start on a compromise solution. The commission should still consider closing the sandhill season in state wildlife areas where whooping cranes nest, most notably in Cheyenne Bottoms nears Great Bend.
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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