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Toronto park will shoot 5500 cormorants 多倫多擬殺五千五鸕鶿
« on: May 9th, 2005, 8:48am » |
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http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/A rticle_Type1&call_pageid=971358637177&c=Article&cid=1115329821491
For the second year in a row, the province will be killing thousands of cormorants at Presqu'ile Park. Related Topics
Environment
Natural resources ministry officials say the cull is necessary to reduce the birds' burgeoning numbers and save trees and shoreline vegetation destroyed by their acidic feces.
This year, park officers armed with .22-calibre rifles will shoot 5,500 double-crested cormorants, which are a little larger than seagulls. Last year, 6,000 of the birds were culled at Presqu'ile, east of Cobourg.
Egg oiling, removing tree nests and disturbing roosting birds are other techniques being used to reduce the size of the flocks.
The issue pits anglers - who say the birds' voracious appetite threatens fish stocks - against environmentalists, who insist the shooting is unnecessary.
"These birds are a huge headache for anyone who cares about the natural environment," said Robert Pye, spokesperson for the Ontario Federation of Anglers and Hunters.
But Melissa Tkachyk of Earthroots said the cull is a needless massacre. "This is a slaughter that will affect all bird species in the park," Tkachyk said.
There are also huge colonies of double-crested cormorants on Toronto's Leslie Street Spitand Algonquin Park. Pye said that while a similar cull wouldn't be advisable in Toronto, egg oiling could help reduce the numbers.
Ministry officials could not be reached for comment, but the announcement was posted on the Environmental Bill of Rights earlier this week.
Between 1982 and 2002, the population of double-crested cormorants nesting at Presqu'ile rose from one to 12,082.
A nesting inventory in 2002 showed 5,189 nests on the ground and 6,893 more in trees.
Pye said the cull is needed to restore equilibrium to a bird population that's out of balance. "I know a cull is not a pretty picture for some people, but it is a reality of proper wildlife management," he added.
Tkachyk said there is no reason why the cormorants cannot simply be left alone to nest. "You can't go into a diverse bird colony and attempt to control the number of one species without disturbing all of them," she said.
Copyright (c) 2005 The Toronto Star
The Toronto Star
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