That is the problem facing environmentalists whose research shows that jaguars, themselves at risk of extinction, are increasingly preying on endangered turtle species.
Experts said that the predation of adult turtles by the big cats in a Costa Rican national park “has now reached a magnitude never before recorded”.
“More and more jaguars are being pushed towards the coastline, where they find sea turtles, which are easy prey,” said Diogo Verissimo, researcher with the Durrell Institute of Ecology and Conservation and Global Vision International.
Figures on marine turtle deaths attributable to jaguars were not collected before 2005. But, in his paper, ‘Jaguar Panthera onca predation of marine turtles: conflict between flagship species in Tortuguero, Costa Rica’, published in Oryx, the International Journal of Conservation, Mr Verissimo argued that the 676 recorded deaths in the five years hence was an extraordinarily high figure.
“There are no cases of this type of behaviour that I am aware of,” he said yesterday. Some argue that people should not interfere in what is essentially a natural, evolutionary process. However, in this case, increasing deforestation was blamed for causing the cats to look further afield.
Mr Verissimo said that making prey more easily available in the cats’ natural habitat in the Tortuguero National Park could ease their propensity to hunt endangered green turtles, as well as hawksbills and leatherbacks, which have also been taken in smaller numbers.
US Fish & Wildlife’s response to a similar situation is instructive. The endangered northern spotted owl is being killed by its first cousin, the barred owl, who is expanding its range into that of the spotted owl. These species are also cross-breading that produces a breading hybrid species. So, US F&W is implementing a program to shoot barred owls.
Killing barred owls creates a real problem, the destruction of the genetic pool of the spotted owl. The basic concept of the Endangered Species Act is flawed. By “protecting” an endangered species, It interferes with the evolutionary process by preventing a new species from evolving.
US F&W is trying to hide their tidy little fraud that adopted the spotted owl as a proxy to halt logging on public and some private lands in the Pacific NW in the name of species preservation. Now we know that the depletion of the spotted owl had little if anything to do with depleted old growth timber habitat. All along it is that rascal, the barred owl, that is extirpating the spotted owl.
When will the public come to realize that species extinction is an aspect of evolution in action?
What do we have to do to get the enviro-wackos to start eating each other?
“Figures … were not collected before 2005. But, in his paper, … Mr Verissimo argued that the 676 recorded deaths in the five years hence was an extraordinarily high figure.”
Looks like he’s got a hockey stick graph, too.
That stood out for me also. If they don’t know what the predation was prior to 2005, how can they know with any certainty whether it’s an increase, decrease, or simply a continuation of a decades/centuries trend.
And I really like wood’s idea.
This is an excellent example of how STUPID these people are. They mostly believe in evolution and survival of the fittest, yet, refuse to allow these to operate?!?!?!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
Ask them for their rationale. It gets, uh, strange.
Ping.
Send employees of the USFWS to protect the turtles. No guns though. When it come to government and data never believe the quality of the data.
I don’t want to pay these people any more, whitetop. I want to fire them and eliminate their agency.
“Mr Verissimo said that making prey more easily available in the cats’ natural habitat in the Tortuguero National Park ”
I think we should have Greenpeace and the WWF run foot tours through the park daily to provide additional prey.
Case in point—the spotted owl.
They claimed the spotted owl only lived in old growth forest, so they shut down an entire lumber industry to protect the owl.
Now we know that this is not true. “We bad. Sorry that we bankrupted your businesses, but we meant well.” Crickets.
The spotted owl is a specialist predator that eats mainly flying squirrels. The generalist striped owl has been moving into the territory and wherever a generalist runs into a specialist, the specialist loses. It was no us!!!!
So, now they want to spend $10 million over 10 years to selectively shoot striped owls, in hopes that this MIGHT allow spotted owl numbers to increase. If it does, do we keep practicing genocide????? Forever????
There is nothing natural about our stupid and arrogant interventions. If the spotted owl is to go extinct, let it go peacefully into the dark as a failed species. We have no right declaring war against a species which is only doing what comes naturally with no effect on us.
We should butt out!!!!!
spe·cies·ism (spsh-zzm, -s-)
n.
Human intolerance or discrimination on the basis of species, especially as manifested by cruelty to or exploitation of animals.
Kill the wabbit! Or barred owl. Because WE decided the spotted owl is more important. Like Gaia cares.