The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries is offering a $9,000 reward for information regarding the May 20, 2016 shooting and killing of two endangered whooping cranes in Acadia Parish.
In a release from the LDWF it states that “the cranes were found just south of Rayne off of Hwy. 35 and Hains Hwy. on the afternoon of May 20.” The cranes, the release went on to say, “were recovered and sent in for a necropsy, which revealed they were both shot.”
Colonel Sammy Martin, head of the LDWF Enforcement Division, states, “We wanted to refresh this news release because we believe that there are people out there that know something about who shot these cranes. This has been an active investigation for almost two years now and while we do have leads and information we are investigating, we still need people to come forward to assist in this case.”
According to the LDWF release, “up to $9,000 is being offered by various groups for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible for the illegal killing of these whooping cranes.”
Organizations offering money for the reward are LDWF’s Operation Game Thief program and the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Foundation, which are both offering $1,000, the Humane Society of the United States and the Humane Society of Wildlife Land Trust, which are offering up to $5,000, and the LDWF, which is offering a total of $2,000 from private donations.
Since 2011, the LDWF has released 125 whooping cranes and are currently tracking 66 whooping cranes. According to the LDFW release, “the cranes in this case were released in December of 2015.”
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ELIZABETH WEST