MINNEAPOLIS, MN (CelebrityAccess) — In addition to being a home for Vikings Football, the team's brand new plate-glass sheathed stadium also appears to be a surprisingly effective killing ground for birds.
A trio of organizations — the Audubon Chapter of Minneapolis, the Minnesota Citizens for the Protection of Migratory Birds and the Friends of Roberts Bird Sanctuary — have released a collaborative report that outlined concerns about the high bird mortality rate the venue imposes. According to the study, the glass walls are luring as many as five hundred birds into fatal collisions a year, making it the deadliest building (for birds) in Minnesota.
Worse, many of the fatalities likely go uncounted due to the carcasses landing in unreachable areas, or being taken by scavengers before detection, the report said.
The groups have called for the stadium's owners to either replace the glass or coat it with reflection-limiting substance to reduce bird deaths. However, according to CBS News, the stadium's management estimates that replacing the glass would cost $60 million, or approximately $120,000 per discovered dead bird.
The study cited other facilities, such as the Jacob Javits Center in Manhattan, replaced the exterior glass with new glass panels that included an embedded pattern that was visible to birds, reduced collisions by as much as 90%.
A new study has been launched to look into the stadium’s effect on the local birds, but it expected to be completed until 2019. – Staff Writers
