Subject: Annual Slaughter of Migrating Waders on Barbados
From: "Cathy Gagliardi" <patcatgags AT comcast.net>
Date: Wed, 15 Aug 2007 21:31:46 -0500



Annual Slaughter of Migrating Waders on Barbados

A small minority of Barbadians are responsible for
shooting up to 45,000 migrating waders (shorebirds)
every year between August and November in Barbados,
West Indies. These birds breed in North America,
sometimes as far North as the Arctic, and then migrate
South to spend the winter in Latin America. En route
they fly over Barbados.

The slaughter on Barbados is highly organized and
takes place in a number of shallow, man-made lakes,
which are made attractive to exhausted migrating
waders. The lakes have up to 4 acres of open water
with specially built mud banks within range of the
shooting hut. Caged birds (maimed from last years'
shoot) are placed close to the mud banks and the
hunters use whistles to imitate the bird calls, which
are supplemented by amplified recording calls to
attract entire flocks. Decoys are also used.

At this time of year large flocks of exhausted birds
fly in after a storm. They are met by a barrage of
fire from semi-automatic weapons. The shooters often
wait for the birds to settle before firing and it is a
matter of pride not to let one single bird escape.
The lakes (known locally as "shooting swamps") are
often manned all day during the shooting season, seven
days a week and it has actually become a "contest"
amongst the four known swamps to see who gets the most
birds. The social and racial status of the shooters
are mostly white and well-to-do in a nation where 90%
of the people have African roots.

This practice has been going on for generations but
has become more refined in the last fifty years, with
the introduction of sophisticated weaponry. Such
shooting does not take place on the other Caribbean
Islands, nor further north. The birds being shot are
fully protected all the year round in both Canada and
America, and have been for about a century now.
Barbados has never signed the Migratory Bird Treaty
Act but they did sign the CITES Act back in 1992.

They include species such as the Lesser Yellowlegs and
Pectoral Sandpiper, but of particular concern is the
American Golden Plover, whose population is declining
rapidly. All species are shot regardless and there is
even an instance of the Eskimo Curlew being shot in
1963, now thought to be extinct.

A Barbadian named Maurice Hutt produced a paper in
1991 on "swamp shooting" and it makes for horrific
reading. Mr. Hutt's efforts to prevent swamp shooting
were suppressed by the powerful shooting lobby in
Barbados and it continues unabated today. In fact
recent estimates indicate that the position may have
worsened and that up to 45,000 birds may be killed
each year. It would seem that the only way to have
this annual slaughter stopped would be if pressure
from the American & Canadian governments and other
outside authorities were to be exerted on the Barbados
government.

WHSRN is the driving force right now to bring an end
to these barbaric shoots and/or impose a Hunting
Season with limits & restrictions..... our donations
are much welcomed and greatly needed. www.whsrn.org <http://www.whsrn.org/>








Jim Corven

Associate Professor

Bristol Community College

777 Elsbree St.

Fall River, MA  02720

Tel: 508 678-2811, ext. 3047

www.Bristol.mass.edu

www.ebird.org/usvi

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change
the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has. "   - Margaret Mead