EMPIRE, Mich. (AP) - A popular hiking trail at Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore has been temporarily closed to pets in an effort to protect endangered birds.
MLive.com reports (https://bit.ly/1LngZmc ) an alert posted by the National Park Service says hikers who plan to visit Sleeping Bear Point Trail should leave their pets behind. It says pets resemble natural predators of piping plovers and may cause the birds to run from their nests and chicks.
The birds are classified as endangered in the Great Lakes region. A number of breeding pairs nest at the National Lakeshore along Michigan’s northwestern Lower Peninsula.
Earlier this spring, a nesting pair was spotted this spring at Stearns Park beach in Ludington, prompting officials to protectively rope off 10,000 square feet of beach.
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Online:
Piping plover facts: https://1.usa.gov/1Eg65ZE
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Information from: The Grand Rapids Press:MLive.com, https://www.mlive.com
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