well it’s been shot 🙁

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10821220/Runaway-rhea-Chris-is-shot-dead-by-a-gamekeeper.html

now i can understand it being a danger to traffic e.t.c,but was there any need to shoot it.

Gone, a Rhea.

Was it on the road? To hell with that.

It won’t be driving home for Christmas…

It’s not worth the risk is it? Having a 6 foot tall bird with sharp talons and a top speed of 45 mph roaming free could have resulted in injury or death to a person.

Hopefully it was a one shot one kill despatch.

Don’t tell Binners but according to the Kardashian Tribune, they’re going to make sausages from the meat.

That’s the worst case of die rhea I’ve heard of.

It’s not worth the risk is it? Having a 6 foot tall bird with sharp talons and a top speed of 45 mph roaming free could have resulted in injury or death to a person.

Yeah and kill all swans as they can break a man’s arm.

A real shame that they had to kill it seems totally unnecessary.

I’d really like to know what justification the bloke had to shoot it, other than being a gamekeeper, who needs no justification to shoot anything that moves if he perceives it to be some sort of threat to the birds that are going to be slaughtered, in which case, what threat does a rhea pose to a pheasant?
And if I was the rightful owner of said bird, I’d be showing up at his door demanding the corpse and full compensation for the loss.
I don’t think this trigger-happy jackass has a leg to stand on, legally.
Seeing as how it had been happily grazing away for a month not causing any harm, the argument about being a traffic hazard seems spurious to me, especially considering how many deer run into the road, causing accidents, and their numbers aren’t reduced as a result.

It is pretty clear he did it for the kick he got out of it.

I don’t think this trigger-happy jackass has a leg to stand on, legally

Aye, he’ll be doing bird.

Aye, he’ll be doing bird.

Yeh, pretty sure he’ll be doing ostrich for that

*applauds*

i believe the gamekeeper, whose name may well not be chris, rhea shooter, will be on the road to hell for this

I think people with guns/weapons like using them. And will find any excuse to do so. End of story. See also; police shooting/tazering people left right and centre. Poor Bigbird 🙁

I thought that the lady on radio 4 today made a good point – if it was possible to shoot it, then it would have been possible to dart it and then capture it.

And if I was the rightful owner of said bird, I’d be showing up at his door demanding the corpse and full compensation for the loss.

Not sure on the law in England, but in Scotland the legal owner is whoever owns the land it is on, so it sounds like the game keeper had the right to shoot it.

Just think if he hadn’t shot it and it had cause a car accident or hit a cyclist on the road or something similar. It even could of been a child’s face. It’s dead. It didn’t suffer. Get over it.

It was probably a mistake and he thought it was bird of prey.

It’s an alien species and a danger to people/livestock/dogs so perfectly reasonable to shoot it.
It’s just a pretty bird running around until it rips a child’s face off.

Except it has never posed a threat to anyone or animal in the time it was out.

From wiki

On impact with the animal, the momentum of a steel ball at the rear of the dart pushes the syringe plunger and injects the dose of barbiturate or other drug into the animal. The drug causes torpor and prostration within minutes. Because of the power of the drugs, the handlers then have to move quickly to secure the animal for transport, monitor its vital signs, protect its eyes and ears, and then inject antidotes when needed. Many large animals are acutely sensitive to stress and can easily die without careful treatment; in order to counter stress in targeted animals, the gun is quiet, and there is usually a valve on the gun to control the dart velocity.

So who’s going to pay for that? Eg the cost of a veterinary team. The owner clearly couldn’t be bothered. A .223/.308 round is a lot cheaper.

Drac, there’s no defence to the “child’s face” endgame

Drumstick for me please.

Except it has never posed a threat to anyone or animal in the time it was out.

Hitler had never killed anyone until the age of 25

Well I hope he’s ostrich-sized by his colleagues.

Not sure on the law in England, but in Scotland the legal owner is whoever owns the land it is on

So next time the neighbour’s cat comes over to have a poo on my lawn I can keep it / shoot it?

MrSmith hits the Godwin Jackpot!

Good luck with the drumstick you seen the size of them 😯

It was probably a mistake and he thought it was bird of prey.

Na,he would have just left poison out for it if he thought that.

Hitler had never killed anyone until the age of 25

How old was Chris I’m sure he was only 3 or 4 so around another 20 years yet.

Well I think the bloke who shot Chris, the Rhea is a bit of a C…

The fact that it could cause harm is a bit of a lame excuse, in my opinion, some git with a gun also poses a major threat to cause harm (Hungerford, Columbine, Cumbria) so perhaps he should be dispatched swiftly also, just in case.

Only if he’s 25 or over though.

It’s fairly common practice to shoot potentially dangerous escaped creatures – cows, dogs etc. Just cos it reminds me of Big Bird I can’t get too emotional about it. Sorry if that makes me a bad person.

Apparently the dead bird is going to be made into gourmet sausages.