Feral animals : a conservationist's view

[Guest guest]

*Letter from Lee…*

 

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*Saving an endangered species is a twofold process: building up numbers

while reducing the threats that caused the endangerment in the first place.*

 

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*The work to reduce threats to endangered species is mostly a pleasure for

conservationists. Being involved in grassroots education projects or the

establishment of protected areas can be highly rewarding and usually great

fun. Sometimes, however, the work is unpleasant, because it requires

eliminating some animals to help others.*

 

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*Exotic animals which prey on, compete with or destroy the environment of

endangered species must be controlled. " Exotic " here means foreign and

unnatural, and it applies to plants as well as animals, of course. Exotics

are organisms introduced by man into ecosystems where they did not evolve,

where they become pests because natural ecological checks and balances on

them do not exist.*

 

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*Dealing with exotics is difficult, costly and labour-intensive. In the

Mascarenes, for example, we have on-going weeding programmes in order to

promote the regrowth of native plants, which in turn provide food for the

native animals we're trying to save. As for exotic animals on Mauritius, we

fence out deer in some places to stop them grazing on the native plants and

we continuously capture and remove feral cats from pink pigeon and echo

parakeet nesting areas. In many cases, however, total eradication of exotic

plants or animals is the only solution. *

 

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*Rats, for example, pose serious threats to some of our most important

target species. We have recently received help from an unexpected source –

the chemical industry. A group called Zeneca Public Health, previously a

part of the chemical giant ICI, has been perfecting techniques for rodent

control in human health and conservation projects around the world, using

fast-acting poisons to dispatch rats quickly with the minimum of suffering.*

 

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*Rats carry not only human diseases, they also eat small animals, eggs,

fruits and seeds. As exotics with few natural predators, they can devastate

native fauna and flora. Zeneca has provided free products and advice from

rodent expert, Dr Alan Buckle, to clear rats from our species hotspots in

the Caribbean and the Indian Ocean.*

 

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*In St. Lucia ridding Praslin Island of rats means that we can consider

translocating St. Lucia whiptails from nearby Maria Island, the only – and

highly vulnerable – place where these colourful lizards are found,

apparently because it has remained rat-free.*

 

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*In Mauritius fewer rats mean pink pigeon and echo parakeet nests are raided

less often and native fruits and seeds are more available for food. Since

the rat control started, numbers of pigeon and parakeet hatchlings have

increased dramatically. On Ile Aux Aigrettes we have eradicated the rats and

introduced captive bred pink pigeons. Released less than six months ago,

eight pairs of pigeons are already sitting on eggs!*

 

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*Killing rats seems to be generally acceptable, but if the exotic animals

are considered to be " cute and cuddly " there is often an outcry. I am always

puzzled by this distinction. I used to keep white rats as pets, and they are

intelligent and sensitive creatures – and rather cute!*

 

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*Unfortunately when the only survival option for an entire species involves

the deaths of a relatively few individuals of a thriving

species,responsible conservationists have no choice in " passing

sentence. " The

important point is that the sentence must be carried out as quickly and

humanely as possible.*

 

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*The Trust is often successful in breeding endangered animals in captivity.

But before we can even think about reintroducing those species to the wild,

we have to clean up the damage caused by mankind in the first place – an

unenviable but essential task.*

 

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- *LEE DURRELL, HONORARY DIRECTOR OF DURRELL WILDLLIFE CONSERVATION

TRUST*

 

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* ON THE EDGE NEWSLETTER, NO 71, OCTOBER, 1994*