Football fans in Minnesota couldn’t have been more excited for the completion of U.S. Bank Stadium, while on the other hand, bird researchers couldn’t have been more concerns. It now appears their concerns have come to fruition.
The Minnesota Vikings’ new $1.1 billion stadium, set to host the Super Bowl next season, is reportedly a death trap for thousands of birds.
The structure’s massive glass paneling is acting like a mirror, tricking birds into thinking they’re flying towards what’s behind them.
According the City Pages, three volunteer groups found 60 dead birds around the stadium after a two-hour monitoring period. In addition to the dead birds, 14 others were found stunned.
U.S. Bank Stadium is a bird killing machine https://t.co/6r1QMClgoq pic.twitter.com/qvlpZJXRrD
— City Pages (@citypages) March 1, 2017
Taking into this account along with reports from maintenance staff and security guards, it’s estimated as many as 500 birds die annually as a result of the building.
The Vikings were apparently made aware of the dangers that the stadium could pose to birds, and in 2016, proposed a three-year, $300,000 commitment to study the stadium’s lethal hazard to birds.
