http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/10102168/
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A Dutch television show claimed to have knocked down a chain of more than 4.1 million dominoes Friday in a new world record, but organizers conceded the event was overshadowed by the earlier shooting of an errant sparrow.
The sparrow was killed by an exterminator with an air rifle on Monday after it knocked down 23,000 dominoes. The killing was seen by many as an overreaction, and angered animal rights and bird protection groups.
It later emerged that the house sparrow, though common, is classified as an endangered species in the Netherlands. Its population has halved in the past 20 years to less than 1 million breeding pairs, due to human encroachment on its territory.