BOSTON (AP) - Massachusetts environmental police are investigating the deaths of two common loons found on Cape Cod with shotgun pellets in their bodies.
The Boston Globe reports (https://bit.ly/2lPkElu ) that the deceased birds were taken over the weekend to Tuft University’s wildlife veterinary clinic, where experts are studying what happened to them.
The black-and-white birds are protected under the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Massachusetts also lists them as a species of “special concern.”
Beachgoers found the first injured loon in Truro in early February. It was taken to experts but died a few days later. It was later found to have pellets in its head.
A second injured loon was found weeks later and brought to a visitor’s center in Eastham. It also died and had pellets in its head and neck.
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