Hawaii News Now has learned that state law enforcement officials want to question four students, several who attend Punahou School.
"I have no clue what the mindset of a person who would do something like this. It's just horrible for the environment, nature and Kaena Point itself," said Hawaiian monk seal advocate Kimo Smith, who discovered the dead birds two weeks ago.
About a dozen birds, whose nests were smashed, have not returned to the wildlife reserve and are also feared dead.
"It is a significant impact when you consider the number of birds together at this natural area preserve. It is important that we not lose any," said environmental activist Carroll Cox.
KILLERS BRAGGED ABOUT THEIR CRIMES
According to civilbeat.org, all the details I have about the alleged albatross killers came indirectly from the suspects themselves who, at a party shortly after the Kaena incident, bragged to their peers about what they had done to the birds. Their boasting included showing the metal identification tags obtained by cutting off the albatrosses’ feet.
Some of their peers were stunned and told their parents. The word got out to Punahou School and others.
Oblivious to the reaction of their classmates, the suspects continued to show off the metal tags and even post pictures of the dead birds on their social media sites until eventually taking down the incriminating information.
What makes the alleged crime particularly horrific is nesting albatrosses are harmless, trusting creatures that are unafraid of human beings. By their nature, the birds stay close to their eggs and chicks no matter what’s happening around their nests.
They are big creatures. Up to 3 feet tall — the size of a human toddler — and can weigh up to 10 pounds. They can live more than 65 years.
The vulnerable Kaena albatrosses apparently were easy targets for the killers, who allegedly bashed the birds with a baseball bat, slashed some their bodies with a machete and shot others with a pellet gun.
Maunawili resident Kimo Smith was hiking with a friend at Kaena Point that morning when he found a dead albatross lying beside its egg, as well as a partially buried dead albatross and an abandoned albatross nest with a smashed egg.
Smith said his hiking companion was so upset she began crying.
He informed Young and VanderWerf, who went to the sanctuary to discover the body parts or entire bodies of four adult nesting albatrosses. Some of the birds were mutilated by having their feet cut off.
The additional 13 birds were never found. It is believed after the suspects killed them, they cut off their feet to remove their identification tags before they tossed their carcasses into the ocean.
In addition to the dead and missing birds, the suspects allegedly stole $3,100 worth of bird monitoring equipment and destroyed 17 albatross nests and smashed 17 albatross eggs.
Bloody feathers lay in piles where the missing birds had been nesting, indicating they met gruesome and cruel deaths. The ruined nests and dead adults were located in widely scattered locations over several acres in the reserve, indicating the perpetrators spent some time killing birds and dismembering their bodies.
The incident shocked animal rights advocates.
The Department of Land and Natural Resources declined comment, citing its pending investigation. That minors may be involved could complicate matters legally, but animal rights activists say the DLNR should pursue stiff penalties.
"Criminologists, psychologists, psychiatrists have long recognized a connections between animal cruelty and all other manner of crimes, even human violence," said Inga Gibson of the Humane Society of the United States.
Albatrosses are migratory birds that are protected by state and federal laws, which includes penalties of prison time, and thousands of dollars in fines.
Punahou School offered the following statement:
We were dismayed by the senseless destruction of albatross nests in the Kaena Point Natural Area Reserve. This important nesting area and the surrounding reserve are wonderful educational resources for students in Hawaii.
It is disturbing to hear that teenagers with ties to Punahou, possibly including one current student, may have been involved in this incident. This deplorable act contradicts the values of the School, and the respect of our community and the environment that we promote.
The school is fully cooperating with the various agency investigations as they gather the facts about who was actually involved.
(HawaiiNewsNow - Jan 13, 2016)
Updates:
- Hawaii: NYU student Christian Gutierrez, 19, accused of torturing albatross birds to death by beating them with a baseball bat, stabbing them with a machete, destroying their nests and cutting off their legs. Posted photos online and bragged of his crime, say authorities
- Hawaii: Christian Gutierrez pleads no contest to animal cruelty and theft after torture deaths of albatross birds
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