Energy & Environment

Four Oklahomans incur heavy penalties for killing protected whooping cranes

KOSU | By Graycen Wheeler

Published October 11, 2023 at 5:05 AM CDT

A big, white, long-necked bird stands in some marshy water with a blue crab in its beak.

Four Oklahoma men have been sentenced for killing four whooping cranes, which are federally protected under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.

There are fewer than 600 whooping cranes in the wild. Some of these rare, stately birds pass through Oklahoma on their way from their nests in Canada to their winter homes in the southern U.S.

Four of these birds met untimely deaths at Tom Steed Reservoir near Altus in 2021.

Four Southwest Oklahoma men pleaded guilty to the crane killings after a joint investigation between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation identified them as the culprits.

They are Joseph Roman, 43, and Justin Wine, 40, of Altus; Chanod Campbell, 32 of Gould; and Brian Lee Gollihare Jr., of Hollis.

“Rest assured that those committing wildlife violations in Oklahoma will be caught thanks to thorough investigations like this along with tips from the public,” said ODWC Law Enforcement Chief Nathan Erdman in a statement.

Last week, a federal judge ordered the men to pay $17,000 apiece to the International Crane Foundation, had them surrender their shotguns and stripped them of their hunting privileges in all 50 states for the next five years.