It is sad when paleontologists have to protect their new finds from damage by human hands.

A recent hadrosaur find near Grand Prairie Alberta was smashed to bits by vandals.

According to the Canadian Press, Rob Drinkwater, Edmonton

The group says it is at least the fourth act of fossil poaching and vandalism in the region in the last month and a half.

At Pipestone Creek Park in the region, a bone bed has been harmed, and in late May, a Plexiglas cover protecting and showcasing several fossilized bones was smashed.

In later incidents in June, a vertebra and several rib bones were stolen………….

Bell said the Hadrosaur would have warranted a major exhibit in a new museum that’s planned for the area, scheduled to open next summer in Wembley, Alta.

“It’s a tragedy not only for our science but for the whole community that will benefit from the new museum,” he said.

Up until now, I must admit that I have been fairly blase about hadrosaurs. We have so many of them on display at our museum that they do not feel as ‘special’ as unusual finds like the Gondwanan Cryolophosaurus, Repetosaurus or Suchomimus. But every fossil’s destruction is a loss for all. Every find can give some more information about the state of the world way back when.

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