[Photo from July 3 by Goggla]
The older of Amelia and Christo's two red-tailed hawk fledglings died early Sunday morning.
Last Wednesday, NYC Urban Park Rangers took the sick hawklet from Tompkins Square Park.
Early testing showed anemia and exposure to rodenticide. The hawk was in the care of the Wildlife in Need of Rescue and Rehabilitation Inc. (WINORR) the past few days.
[Photo last Wednesday by Goggla]
WINORR's Cathy Stpierre shared an emotional Facebook post yesterday morning, writing in part:
[T]his is so gut wrenching. I've put all my efforts and energy into trying to fix the selfishness and ignorance of the human race. This beautiful young soul will never sore high up in the clouds bringing the caring people joy and happiness of watching his magnificence. He never got the chance to live his life. Instead he suffered a horrible death. How hard is it to clean up after yourselves and take pride in our planet and all that live in it???
Goggla has more here:
Secondary poisoning happens when one animal (like a rat) eats poison, then the predator who eats the prey animal dies from the poison. Our hawk likely ingested rodenticide from a poisoned rat or mouse that was brought into the park by its parents. Tompkins Square Park does not use rodenticide, but the surrounding area is full of it.
She also links to Raptors Are The Solution (RATS), an organization dedicated to educating people about the dangers of rodenticide.
Amelia's eggs arrived in late April. We got our first look at the chicks in early June.
