World Class @ss: Scientist Tracks Down One of World’s Rarest Birds and Then KILLS IT For ‘Research’

by Sierra Marlee | October 10, 2015 2:00 pm

This guy has definitely made it onto bird lovers’ bad sides. Chris Filardi is the director of Pacific Programs at The Museum of Natural History and found it necessary to find and KILL a male moustached kingfisher[1] last month.

[2]

From The Daily Mail[3]:

An American research team tracked down a rare bird, took the first ever photograph of it, and shortly killed it thereafter last month.

Chris Filardi, director of Pacific Programs at The Museum of Natural History, is defending his choice to slaughter the bird which he says was ‘collected as a specimen for additional study.’

The male moustached kingfisher is found only in the Solomon islands and specifically one called Guadalcanal where Filardi was ‘surveying endemic biodiversity and working with local partners to create a protected area, ‘ according to a Facebook post Filardi made from the American Museum of Natural History page on September 24.

Filardi writes about how he was in awe at spotting the bird after hearing its signature ‘kokoko-kiew’ call.

‘When I came upon the netted bird in the cool shadowy light of the forest I gasped aloud, “Oh my god, the kingfisher.” One of the most poorly known birds in the world was there, in front of me, like a creature of myth come to life. We now have the first photos ever taken of the bird, as well as the first definitive recordings of its unmistakable call,’ wrote Filardi in the post before killing the winged creature.

The Do Do reports that Dr. Filardi’s choice to kill the bird has divided the scientific community over the morality of killing animals for research.

Ecologists have criticized what they say is an ‘unnecessary slaying’ of a rare bird for conservation purposes.

Dr. Filardi argues that studying the dead bird could provide vast scientific knowledge and could protect the birds for years to come, reports The Independent.

On Audubon.org Filardi wrote, ‘Through a vision shared with my Solomon Island mentors, and focused keenly on sacred Uluna-Sutahuri lands, the Moustached Kingfisher I collected is a symbol of hope and a purveyor of possibility, not a record of loss.’