U.S. federal government officials have killed more than 1,000 seabirds on an Oregon island since May to protect endangered salmon as part of a plan that environmentalists say is flawed and are seeking to stop with a lawsuit.
So far, 1,221 adult cormorants have been killed and more than 5,000 nests destroyed, U.S. officials said Friday, adding the killing is expected to continue until mid- to late October when the seabirds migrate for the winter.
"Government agents are racing about in their boat blowing birds out of the sky," said Bob Sallinger, conservation director of the Audubon Society of Portland. "The public has a right to see how the federal government is squandering millions of taxpayer dollars killing protected wild birds."