An update on 6 sea lions killed in Oregon
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Earlier this week, L.A. Unleashed reported that six federally protected sea lions were apparently shot to death on the Columbia River in Oregon as they laid in open traps put out to ensnare the animals, which eat endangered salmon.
But that may not be the case, according to the Oregonian:
Backing away from earlier suggestions that six sea lions were brazenly gunned down at Bonneville Dam over the weekend, federal fisheries officials said Wednesday that they do not know how the animals died.
They said they initially thought, based on puncture wounds on the neck of one animal and traces of blood, that the sea lions were illegally shot while trapped inside floating cages set up by state officials. ‘That seemed at first blush to be the most likely explanation,’ said Brian Gorman, a spokesman for the National Marine Fisheries Service, the federal agency responsible for marine mammals. ‘That was the assumption.’
But examinations of the carcasses ‘found no gunshot wounds and determined that the neck wounds were probably caused by bites from another sea lion.’
Further tests are pending.
--Alice Short
