Marine base investigates slaughter of sea birds
By Jan TenBruggencate
Advertiser Science Writer
About 30 sea birds apparently were shot to death within the Ulupa'u Wildlife Management Area at Marine Corps Base Hawai'i at Kane'ohe.
Courtesy U.S. Geological Survey
The dead birds were discovered Wednesday. The case is being treated as a criminal investigation, handled jointly by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Naval Criminal Investigative Service.
Thirty red-footed boobies like this one were killed within a wildlife preserve on Mokapu Peninsula at the Marine base.
The birds, all red-footed boobies, were part of a colony of about 2,500 birds that nest and roost at the eastern end of Ulupa'u Crater, at the northeastern end of the Mokapu Peninsula. Boobies are protected under the federal government's 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act.
The 23-acre wildlife sanctuary lies at the east end of the crater and shares the crater with a Marine firing range.
Marine spokesman Maj. Chris Hughes said it is unlikely that the birds were killed as a result of normal use of the range complex. He said this is the first time in the range's history that this kind of mass bird kill has been reported.
"This facility has functioned so well for the last 50 years," Hughes said.
The range is primarily used by military people, and civilians would not normally have access there except with military escorts. Still, Hughes said he could not rule out unauthorized nonmilitary access.
It is not uncommon to find one or two birds killed by feral cats or through other causes, Hughes said, but 30 dead birds is unusual.
