Man Sentenced to Jail for Shooting Protected Hawk

VAN NUYS — A Sun Valley man was sentenced Tuesday to 30 days in jail after he pleaded no contest to shooting to death a Cooper’s hawk, a species protected under state law, reportedly after the raptor attacked the man’s pigeons, authorities said.

Akop Manukyan, 23, was sentenced by Van Nuys Municipal Judge Karen Nudell after entering his plea to one count of illegally taking a bird of prey. Manukyan also was placed on three years probation and must pay $100 in restitution to the state Department of Fish and Game, said Ted Goldstein, spokesman for the Los Angeles city attorney’s office.

Manukyan originally faced a maximum sentence of a year in jail and $2,100 in fines. But Goldstein said the sentence Manukyan received was substantial in light of the misdemeanor crime.

Manukyan was arrested Feb. 4 after a neighbor told police he heard a gunshot and a thud on the tin roof of a structure attached to his house. When the neighbor looked on the roof, he found the dead hawk.

Manukyan admitted that he shot the bird, Deputy City Atty. Don Cocek said when the charges against Manukyan were filed last month.

Cooper’s hawks are classified as protected, meaning their population is low but not so low that their species is nearing extinction.