Birds at Florida landfill to be shot
Seagulls and other scavenger birds frequent Countywide LF. A flock can be seen here hovering over bulldozers at active cell #7 in this photo taken Nov. 10, 2005.WEST PALM BEACH, Fla., Dec. 7 (UPI) -- A Florida county has begun shooting vultures and seagulls at a landfill because of the apparent danger they pose to drivers at a nearby turnpike.
A sharpshooter from the U.S. Department of Agriculture has been given a permit to kill 100 black vultures, 200 turkey vultures and 600 sea gulls until March at the Palm Beach County landfill in West Palm Beach, the Palm Beach Post reported.
State troopers say one recent car crash on the Florida Turnpike was caused by a bird-car collision and that collision may have caused another crash.
Florida Highway Patrol Sgt. Jorge Delahoz said he doesn't think the vultures are a threat to cars. County commissioners will review the sharp-shooting idea in January after complaints from citizens and wildlife groups.
Rosa Durando, conservation director of the Audubon Society of the Everglades, said the sharpshooter may accidentally shoot birds not included in the permit.
She also said killing some vultures won't deter others from circling the landfill as officials hope.
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