[tn-bird] Sad End To A Wild Goose Chase

From: "David Aborn" <daborn@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <tn-bird@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 13:48:27 -0400
From the CNN website.

David Aborn
Chattanooga, TN
-----------------------------
      LONDON, England -- British wildlife experts are mourning the loss of
Kerry
      the goose after tracking him by satellite all the way from Ireland to
an
      Eskimo's kitchen in Arctic Canada.
      Kerry had safely completed the arduous 4,500-mile journey, only to be
shot
      by a man out hunting.
      He was found by researchers who tracked the signal from a transmitter
on
      Kerry's back to the Eskimo's home on remote Cornwallis Island.
      After knocking on the door they were led to his freezer where Kerry
lay
      still wearing his £3,000 electronic tracker.
      Kerry was one of six Irish Light-Bellied Brent Geese being followed on
      their migration routes by the British-based Wildfowl and Wetlands
Trust.
      Senior research officer Dr James Robinson said: "We have some Canadian
      colleagues in an area called Resolute Bay on Cornwallis Island who
have a
      small receiver which can pick up the birds' signals.
      "Hearing that the last place Kerry was known to be was Cornwallis
Island,
      they decided to see if they could find him.
      "They looked in all the fjords and lakes where Brent Geese go, but had
no
      success at all. Then as they were walking back into town, their
receiver
      started beeping more strongly.
      "They tracked the beeps to a house, knocked on the door, and
discovered
      that the guy who lived there had shot Kerry on another island called
      Bathurst Island.
      "Kerry was in the hunter's freezer. He hadn't been plucked and the
      transponder was still on him. The hunter was somewhat surprised -- he
      didn't know what the device on the goose's back was.
      "He was a bit reluctant to co-operate to start with, but when the
project
      was explained to him he was happy to help.
      "We thought Kerry had flown across from Bathurst Island to Cornwallis
      Island, but in fact he was being carried in the hunter's boat. All the
      time the satellite was still tracking him."
      Of the other six Irish Light-Bellied Brent Geese fitted with
transponders
      in May, one called Arnthor is also believed to have been shot.
      Bleeps from Arnthor stopped abruptly over Disko Island on the west
coast
      of Greenland, where hunting is illegal in spring but known to take
place.

            The goose was part of an experiment to track migration routes
      A third goose, Oscar, died in Iceland, where his body was found on a
small
      island. Researchers think he may have been killed by a bird of prey.
      Three other birds still survive on islands off the Arctic coast of
Canada.

      Austin is on the western tip of Ellesmere Island, Hugh was last heard
of
      on Amund Ringnes Island and a bird called Major Ruttledge is believed
to
      be on Graham Island.
      Each April the geese set off from Northern Ireland, stopping over in
      Iceland before reaching Canada's Arctic wilderness where they mate,
lay
      eggs and rear young.
      In August and September they fly back, with their young, to their
winter
      home at Strangford Lough, Northern Ireland -- a round trip of 9,000
miles.

      During the trip the birds face many dangers, including hunters,
predators,
      bad weather and 3,000-metre ice mountains in Greenland.
      "They leave Ireland in April, get to the Arctic in early June, stay
there
      just about long enough to lay their eggs and rear goslings, and then
come
      all the way back," said Dr Robinson. "It's one of the most amazing
      migrations made by any bird."
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[tn-bird] Sad End To A Wild Goose Chase

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