Government accused of ‘kowtowing to people who want to shoot more stuff’
A proposed sandhill crane hunt in southeastern Alberta would be unsustainable and affect populations of already endangered whooping cranes says the Federation of Alberta Naturalists.
According to Sandra Foss a federation director and past president sandhill cranes can easily be mistaken by hunters for the endangered whooping crane because the two cranes are similar looking especially young ones. Cranes have a low reproductive rate which makes for an unsustainable hunt. Foss says.
“Cranes are under more pressure than ever” Foss says. “When we find a problem (with the hunt) it might be too late.”
Industrial activity in northern Alberta where the cranes breed is already putting pressure on the species and the government doesn’t know how many cranes are being taken by the ongoing First Nations’ hunt.
“The government is just kowtowing to people who want to shoot more stuff” she says.
Darcy Whitehead of Alberta Sustainable Resource Development says Saskatchewan Manitoba and jurisdictions in the U.S. have successful sandhill crane hunts and in Saskatchewan there has never been a mistakenly shot whooping crane.
But Foss points out “If someone shoots an endangered species they’re not going to tell anyone.”
