This is profoundly disturbing. An ostrich is shot apparently from above, through the head and down the neck, in the dead of night during the darkness of a waning moon. Large drones have been seen in the area. It’s easy to think oh – a disgruntled neighbour shot the bird with a drone. However, arming a drone is not only highly illegal but extremely technically challenging. The drone has to be fitted with a mounting framework to securely carry a downward-pointing weapon and allow targeting. There would have to be some type of night imaging system such as infrared, thermal or night vision. An ostrich is a large animal, but its cranium is still a tiny target from an aerial platform. The drone would have had to be hovering at sufficient altitude to not panic the other birds, so a highly sophisticated targeting system would be required.

Also, ostriches sleep stretched out on the ground, frequently with their heads tucked under a wing, and often in tight groups. The drone operator would have needed to target a bird who was awake, with his neck erect and head up, in order for the precision shot to have entered at the described trajectory. Again, this points to advanced targeting capabilities.

If this is the case, this looks like military anti-personnel tech to me, optimized for stealth night operations and possibly with an AI targeting system. Civilians, even with drone and firearms licences, can’t buy or even possess stuff like this. Only the police and military have this kind of equipment and the expertise to deploy it.

The other possibility is that the bird was sleeping stretched out on the ground, away from the flock and with his head exposed, and someone at the fence line with a rifle equipped with night optics got a lucky horizontal shot through the top of the head.

Regardless, it’s vital to have a veterinarian perform a necropsy with an entry/exit wound ballistics study. Unimpeachable forensic evidence must be obtained to determine the trajectory of the bullet. Something sinister appears to be happening here that goes way beyond a “bird flu cull”. If possible night watch volunteers equipped with night vision gear with recording capability should be deployed around those birds to identify drones or trespassers. I realize that not everyone owns night vision equipment, but perhaps someone on site knows someone who does. I also understand that the volunteers are already exhausted, but surveillance is now essential.

I suspect the CFIA had a hand in this destructive drone attack. Who else would have a drone with a weapon on it? I also suspect CFIA will deny it was their drone. What pig-headed jerks!