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Flagrant violation of wildlife laws
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Posted on Jan 25 2005
Two weekends ago I was witness to something I found utterly disturbing. My family and I decided to take a drive back to Tinian’s own bird sanctuary located on the upper plateau called Bus. When we got there, we saw one of the many island families enjoying their Sunday afternoon, barbequing and picking donni. The disturbing part was witnessing members of this Sunday gathering shoot a .22-gauge rifle at the birds in the sanctuary. Even more disturbing was seeing local wildlife officials at the party do nothing as their counterparts used the protected sea birds for target practice. There was no gain in shooting the birds; they could not retrieve the birds to eat. The birds’ cadavers fell to the bottom of the cliff line, to be left for scavengers. I am ashamed to say that I did not say anything to the party, nor did I call any authorities. What good would it do when Fish and Wildlife employees were already present at the party? I am appalled at this complete disregard for a place that is supposedly a sanctuary for the local protected sea birds. I am disappointed that we cannot count on those who are supposed to protect the first residents of our islands, the birds.
Leila Clark
Tinian
