COLORADO, USA — Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) officers are asking for the public's help providing any information that could lead to the arrest of the person responsible for shooting turkey vultures.
The first occurrence was in May when a slain turkey vulture was brought into the Birds of Prey Foundation. A second turkey vulture was shot sometime around June 15 or 16.
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“Roosting turkey vultures can be seen as unwelcome guests because of the mess they can make, but residents are not permitted to shoot or kill them to solve this problem,” said Wildlife Officer Joe Padia. “This most likely is a resident fed up with the destruction from vultures on their property leaving feces, bones and foul odors, and is using a pellet gun illegally to take care of their problem.”
According to CPW, the shooter used a pellet gun to shoot at the vulture. Police are currently searching the areas of Longmont by Central Elementary School and Thompson Park where this happened.
To report information, the public can call CPW’s Denver office at 303-291-7227 or do so through Operation Game Thief by calling 1-877-265-6648 or emailing game.thief@state.co.us.
Turkey vultures are protected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, and fines of up to $15,000 could be charged.
“There are plenty of non-lethal means to haze them, such as noise devices,” Padia said, adding it's just one of few methods to move them away.
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