An environmental group in Argentina has denounced the massacre in recent weeks of several hundred ñandú, or American rhea, a cousin of the ostrich that is increasingly threatened in the central province of Córdoba due to the expansion of soybean cultivation. “They are hunted by people in the area, who act with complete impunity,” Raúl Montenegro, of the Foundation for Environmental Defense, based in the central city of Córdoba, told Tierramérica.

Montenegro said the poachers destroy fences, trespass on rural properties, steal cattle and savagely kill the birds, “with dogs and bolas thrown from horseback, and also with firearms,” he said.

Given the apparent inaction of provincial authorities on the matter, Montenegro said his foundation is considering filing a lawsuit in order to protect the ñandú.