FreeLists / tn-bird / [TN-Bird] Sparrow death

["David Aborn" <David-Aborn@xxxxxxx>]

I checked out the following news item, and as far as I can tell it IS
legitimate.

David Aborn
Chattanooga, TN

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands (AP) -- The Dutch animal protection agency said
Tuesday it is investigating the shooting death of a sparrow that knocked
over 23,000 dominoes during an attempt to set a world record.

The ill-fated bird flew into an exposition center, threatening to derail =
a
world record Monday, before it was chased into a corner and shot by an
exterminator with an air rifle.

The bird was a common house sparrow -- a species placed on the national
endangered list last year.

"Under Dutch law, you need a permit to kill this kind of bird, and a =
permit
can only be granted when there's a danger to public health or a crop,"
agency spokesman Niels Dorland said.

"That was not the case. I might add, is it really necessary to kill a =
bird
that knocked over a few dominoes for a game?"

Dorland said the agency plans to submit the case to national =
prosecutors.
The incident came as the national birdwatchers association was preparing =
a
campaign to draw attention to the rapidly declining number of sparrows =
in
the country.

The Endemol production company, which organized the Domino Day event,
defended the killing. The organizers wanted to break their own Guinness
World Record of 3,992,397 dominoes set last year by toppling a chain of
4,321,000 blocks.

Around 200,000 dominoes were left to go, and the bird knocked down =
23,000 of
them.

Endemol spokesman Jeroen van Waardenberg said organizers made a
"split-second" decision to shoot down the bird.

"That bird was flying around and knocking over a lot of dominoes. More =
than
100 people from 12 countries had worked for more than a month setting =
them
up," he said.

He said organizers had believed the building was fully sealed against =
birds
and mice. The company is considering some kind of memorial or mention =
for
the dead bird during the television broadcast Friday, he added.

But Dorland said shooting the sparrow to ensure the success of the =
program
was an overreaction.

"I think they were awfully fast to pull out a rifle," he said. "If a =
person
started knocking over a few dominoes they wouldn't shoot him would =
they?"

A Dutch website called Geenstijl offered a $1,200 reward for anybody who
knocks over the dominoes ahead of time to avenge the bird.

Hans Peeters, director of the Netherlands Bird Protection agency, called =
the
killing "ridiculous."

He said rapid urbanization in the Netherlands was threatening the =
species.

"There were more than 2 million breeding pairs in the Netherlands 20 =
years
ago," he said. "Now there's a half a million to a million at most. We =
hope
this can be a call to action."

=================NOTES TO SUBSCRIBER=====================

The TN-Bird Net requires you to sign your messages with
first and last name, city (town) and state abbreviation.
You are also required to list the count in which the birds
you report were seen.  The actual date of observation should
appear in the first paragraph.
_____________________________________________________________
To post to this mailing list, simply send email to:
tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
_____________________________________________________________ 
To unsubscribe, send email to:
tn-bird-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx 
with 'unsubscribe' in the Subject field.
______________________________________________________________
  TN-Bird Net is owned by the Tennessee Ornithological Society 
       Neither the society(TOS) nor its moderator(s)
        endorse the views or opinions expressed
        by the members of this discussion group.
 
         Moderator: Wallace Coffey, Bristol, TN
                 wallace@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

_____________________________________________________________
     Visit the Tennessee Ornithological Society
          web site at http://www.tnbirds.org
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Topographical Maps located at http://topozone.com/find.asp

_____________________________________________________________