Lassen County man convicted of killing more than 150 protected birds

The Associated Pess

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A Northern California man has been sentenced to 90 days in jail after pleading guilty to killing more than 150 protected birds and other wildlife.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife officials call it the largest raptor poaching case in known California history.

State prosecutors said Friday that 68-year-old Richard Parker of Standish also agreed to pay $75,000 in fines after pleading guilty to crimes related to poaching.

The two firearms that Parker used to shoot the wildlife were ordered destroyed by the court.

Wildlife officers began investigating Parker last March after receiving a tip by someone who saw a man kill a hawk near the town of Standish, which is east of Susanville in Lassen County.

When they searched Parker's property, officers found 159 dead animals, most of them red-tailed hawks but also two bobcats and a mountain lion.

In this photo taken March 11, 2018, and released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife are some of the over 140 carcasses they collected of mostly raptors, other birds and mammals near Standish in Lassen County. Officers also confiscated two dead bobcats and a taxidermied mountain lion. A Northern California man illegally shot more than 130 hawks and other birds of prey on his land, leaving the carcasses to pile up at the foot of trees and telephone poles, wildlife officials said Wednesday. CDFW managers believe the discovery near the rural town in northeastern California marks the largest poaching case involving raptors on record for California, agency spokesman Capt. Patrick Foy said.

In this photo taken March 11 and released by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife officers conduct an investigation of dead birds located at the bottom of roosting trees or manmade objects such as telephone poles near Standish. A Northern California man illegally shot more than 130 hawks and other birds of prey on his land, leaving the carcasses to pile up at the foot of trees and telephone poles, wildlife officials said. CDFW believe the discovery near the rural town of Standish in Lassen County marks the largest poaching case involving raptors on record for California, agency spokesman Capt. Patrick Foy said.

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