Residents in Cooper City reported seeing ATVs running over dozens of ducks and geese in their neighborhood over the weekend.
In a waterway off Southwest 49th Street and Southwest 120th Avenue, there are ibis, limpkin and other wildlife. But more importantly, resident Brian Schafler says it’s the resting place for nearly 200 geese.
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WATCH HEREAnd on Saturday night, their home was destroyed.
“That’s the only little piece of land they have, and to have someone come and do that, it’s horrible. It’s like carnage,” Schafler said.
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Schafler shared a video showing dozens of dead or injured birds on the ground. He can be heard saying, "Another one" over and over again as he shows the different birds.
Schafler was inside his home having dinner when around 7:40 p.m., he heard noises of a vehicle. He looked out the window to see Egyptian geese and ducks flying.
“They went back and forth back and forth savagely running over these birds in the evening," he said.
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On a stretch of grass in between the waterway and a lake, he collected as many of the dead geese as he could and tried to save any injured ones he found. But not all could be saved.
Schafler has video of vultures appearing Sunday on the waterway. Other birds were seen still dead in the water on Monday.
“Seeing 30, 40 injured helpless ducks that are sitting there in peril. Necks broken, guts all over. It’s not an easy sight for anyone to see,” he said.
NBC6 reached out to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission about the matter, and the agency referred us to the Broward County Sheriff's Office. They said in a statement that they have canvassed the area and are still investigating the circumstances around what happened.
While Egyptian geese are non-protected species in the state of Florida, according to FWC, they can be “captured and humanely killed on private property at any time with landowner permission. Their nests and eggs may also legally be removed and destroyed.”
But Saturday’s incident is something the Schaflers hope to never have to experience again.
“For someone to just pull such a heinous act like that, to kill them,” Schafler said. “What happened was savagely done and you can tell was planned out because they came at night when they were sleeping.”
Schafler and his family say they are also offering a reward for anyone who has any information.
