[All] Fw: letter to the editor concept re: Chucar Partridge.

[Lanteigne]

 I submitted this. Hopefully it will be published because there are folks selling these birds on Kijiji right now.
https://www.kijiji.ca/b-canada/chukar/k0l0


Lulu 

   ----- Forwarded Message ----- From: Lanteigne <water.lulu at yahoo.ca>To: newsroom at therecord.com <newsroom at therecord.com>Sent: Thursday, May 6, 2021, 12:59:24 a.m. EDTSubject: letter to the editor concept re: Chucar Partridge.
  
This weekend my daughter spotted a Chukar Partridge running around our neighbourhood in Colombia Forest Subdivision. The animal was the size of a hen, grey with stripped wingtips. When we identified the bird we found it was a native species normally found in the Middle East not Canada. So I called the Ministry of Natural Resources about it worried that it was an invasive species. 
I was told by the MNR that they are the ones who issue permits for people to release up to 10 of these birds per property per year, for the sake of hunting. The birds lack health issues that could impact wild populations and it is assumed the majority of them get shot and that breeding pairs would be very unlikely. Canada's cold winters are known to kill the bird who can't take cold weather.  
I was told in the area of Guelph, on average 10 permits for 10 birds are issued annually. The birds eat mainly plants with some intake of insects. They are not perceived as a threat to other species by the MNR. I was concerned about the impacts of these birds on endangered plants, low nesting birds and releases of them near Environmentally sensitive areas. I asked MNR staff if they do any pre-assessment on endangered species in areas where these birds are released and hunted. They said no. They simply allow folks to fill out the form, pay the amount to get the birds to shooting them. It's just a bird for the killing. 
There is nothing at all about actual wildlife management involved with this issue so I'm left wondering why taxpayers are paying for the MNR to allow hunters to basically shoot a living animal for kicks?  It seems more about the sale of guns and bullets and permits. So I went online to see who sells the birds and the first thing I saw was Kijiji where people are selling them from $5-$12.50 each.. 
We desperately need MNR to focus on actual protection of our environment. It's Time for Ontario to ban the releasing and hunting of invasive species for shooting. 
Louisette Lanteigne700 Star Flower Ave.Waterloo OntN2V 2L2     
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