At Haystack Rock in Oregon, one visitor was responsible for harassing various nesting birds with a laser pointer, resulting in the loss of two chicks.
The incident, classified as a form of wildlife harassment, isn’t the first or last disruption of its kind, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has measures — including fines — in place for when the perpetrators are caught.
“When you find out that this has happened when it was off our watch, it just breaks your heart,” Haystack Rock Awareness Program’s Jenny Gooldy told KGW.
According to the Portland outlet, the harsh disruption of a green laser pointer upset the “delicate ecosystem” of the Rock, startling a pair of oystercatcher birds during their third — and likely final — nesting attempt for the year. Threatened, the two birds wound up abandoning their chicks.
The audience of the Haystack Rock Awareness Program, which posted a video of the incident, voiced their disapproval of the offender and called for better wildlife protection to prevent such disruptions from taking place in the future.
Interacting irresponsibly with wildlife — whether by feeding animals without regulation, approaching them for photographs, or harassing them — can lead to unfortunate consequences.
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Getting too close too frequently, for example, can accustom wildlife to human presence and set the stage for more confrontational encounters thereafter. Animals that engage in violent conflict with humans may even be euthanized.
Likewise, harassing animals not only can startle or even enrage them in the short term, but also may lead to the loss or separation of herds or nests, endangering the defenseless young.
Fortunately, we can all take steps to avoid overstepping our boundaries with wildlife. Paying attention to posted signs and informing authorities if you see anything abnormal can go a long way.
“It can seem like such a small situation,” Gooldy told KGW, “but [people] just don’t understand the impact that something like [a laser pointer] can have, especially for nesting birds. … A little bit of human interference can have a devastating impact.”
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It’s very important that visitors recognize that there are places to view this wildlife, but to give them space and follow any signs that we have posted about closed areas,” advised Dawn Harris of the FWS, per KGW.
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