SPRING 2008 and pictures. 29 Why We Must Control ... I can’t bear to part with mine as I think ... ing to their ‘Life List’. Often,

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2 INformation / Spring 2008 www.operationmigration.org

As we begin finalizing our fiscal year end – which we

anticipate will finish in the black – we want to express our

sincere thanks to everyone, but especially to you, our

Members, for having supported Operation Migration financially,

and in so many other ways.

It is only through your unwavering commitment to us that, year

after year, we are able to do what it takes to help ensure the survival

of the Whooping crane.

Via our website Field Journal and INformation, our semi-annual

members’ magazine, we promise to continue to provide updates,

reports, other news, and articles so that you can share the successes

your Membership and contributions allow us to achieve.

We look forward to the privilege of maintaining our highly valued

relationship with you, and we pledge that we will do everything

within our power to continue to make your Membership

experience as rewarding as we possibly can.

The OM Team

Give the Gift of MembershipOn the many gift-giving occasions that arise throughout theyear, why not consider giving a gift that will ‘keep on giving’ –both to your recipient and to Whooping cranes.

Give a gift of Membership in Operation Migration to relatives,friends, colleagues, or perhaps to those whose conservation andenvironmental awareness, shall we say, could use a little‘tweaking’. We’ll even send you a little gift card to you so that youcan notify the recipient of your gift to them.

SPECIAL OFFER: At just $50, a one year SupportingMembership is a bargain. But you can give a second giftMembership for $40, and a third for only $30. Good untilJune 30, 2008, this special offer is not available through thewebsite. To order, call toll free 1-800-675-2618.

Note: to receive the special pricing all gift memberships mustbe taken out in one order.

5 The Why and How of a New Migration Routeby Joe DuffLooking for the shortest trail to a successful tale.

8 The Evolution of Wildlife Conservation by Matthew C. PerryThe science behind the conservationmovement.

12 Environmental Change, Wildlife Health Monitoring, and Species Survival by Dr. Katharine Pelican, DVM, PhDCan wildlife survive the stressors ofenvironmental change?

a publication of OPERATION MIGRATION SPRING 2008

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DEPARTMENTS: 4 INbox • 39 OM Gear

INformation magazine is published by

OPERATION MIGRATION“North America’s biggest little non-profit.”

OUR MISSIONTo promote the conservation of migratory species through

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OUR WORKPreserving and safeguarding threatened andendangered wildlife…one species at a time.

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FeaturesSPECIAL SECTION: 2007 MIGRATION

20 Migration 2007: The Conclusionby Joe DuffAn ending that is just the beginning withenough memories to last a lifetime.

23 Little Did We Know…by Liz CondieRe-capping the 2007 migration in words and pictures.

29 Why We Must Control Wildlife Populations by Michael HutchinsWeighing competing values to attain the ‘greatest good’.

ARTICLES: 15 WatchList 2007 • 18 The Sixth Great Extinction • 34 Waterbirds in Decline• 35 Species Loss Weakens Entire Ecosystems • 36 I’ve Seen the Glaciers Shrinking • 38 Global Warming Affects Wildlife Populations

“I think the environment should be put in the category of our national

security. Defense of our resources is just as important as defense

abroad. Otherwise, what is there to defend?” — RO B E RT RE D F O R D

INbox

Ijust wanted to write a little note to saythat your magazine just keeps getting

better and better with each edition. A lotof my friends who get publications fromorganizations such as yours pass themalong to others, which is a great idea, butI can’t bear to part with mine as I thinkthey are so wonderful! – but I do pass onthe word about your great work.— Jackie Seal, Florida

In a most difficult year, your dedicationand compassion reveals the best of

humanity, and you have inspired all of uswho believe so fully in you and your mis-sion. Best of everything to all of you inyear 8 of your magnificent work! — Jane Duden, Minnesota

Iknow that the whereabouts of theWhooping cranes is a secret that can

hardly be contained no matter what. Peo-ple talk. I guess what makes me so crazy isthe lack of understanding on the part ofthe public. There is a weird paradox atwork here; not seeing the birds means youwill get to see them. Again, people, evenbirders don’t seem to get that. But all theself interest bugs the living daylights out ofme. How did a Life List become moreimportant than the birds themselves? Alas,I don’t know that I will ever understand.

In any event, I appreciate what you do.There have been two issues in birding thathave captured my attention for the pastyears; migration and premature extinction(the phenomena and associated ethics).OM addresses both ideas – perfectly. Pastthat, the base ethic that drives OM knocksme out. Is there a higher, more selfless call-ing? I don’t think so. Good birding, andmay the cranes always fly with angels.— Sharon Klemm, Michigan

EDITOR’S REPLY: We can’t disagree with yoursentiments, Sharon. When we post webupdates on the reintroduced population, theWCEP protocol calls for no identification oftheir locations below the County level.

Despite taking every precaution we canhowever, what happens more often than notis they are spotted by a birder who then poststheir location on a Bird listserv – often giv-ing folks precise directions to them. They seeit as a rare chance to add this species’ sight-ing to their ‘Life List’. Often, it isn’t longbefore local media pick up on it, and thenext thing you know the public turns out indroves. We react instantly once we are awareof the situation, but usually by then thedamage is unfortunately done.

We are now considering not identifyingthe County and just showing the State. Assome of the birds return to previous winter-ing territories which are already known topeople, this measure is not likely to helpthem, but it could offer other birds a meas-ure of protection in the future.

If I was a Whooping crane I would wantyou to be my friends. I like that you teach

them things like finding food and showthem how to go south. I think they are gladto be where it is warm. We have lots of snowand it is cold.— Alma Michaels, Colorado (age 7)

To the entire OM team: Thanks for allyour hard work, time, sweat, and love –

that goes into caring for the cranes andbeing crane moms and dads. I know youare used to sending out the thank younotes, but without you, there’d be no needfor thank you notes. So I’m sending you athank you – along with a check.— Marilyn & Jim Hampton, Wisconsin


Have a question or comment? We welcome your input! Please drop us a line.

Even postings asking people to keep their distance for the safety of the two Whooping craneswere no deterrent in many cases.

“The truth of the matter is, the birds

could very well live without us, but

many – perhaps all – of us would

find life incomplete, indeed almost

intolerable without the birds. Birds

are an ecological litmus paper.”

— RO G E R TO RY PE T E R S O N

We have been leading birds along

the same migration route for

seven years, and, with the excep-

tion of 2005, each trip has taken longer than

the one before. In 2001 we completed the jour-

ney in only 48 days, half the time of this past

year’s migration. Back then it felt like an

endurance test, but today that trip would seem

like a walk in the park.

This last migration took us 97 days and

that doesn’t include the break we took over

Christmas. The odd thing is our departure is

normally within a week of the same time each

October and it only takes us 23 or so flying

days to cover the 1,260+ miles - but every year

we have to wait longer for each of those 23 fly

days.

This steady increase of migration time

seems too consistent to be attributable to the

onset of global warming. The human influence

on our atmosphere is getting progressively

worse, but that doesn’t rule out some fluctua-

tion. No single weather factor that we face has

escalated so dependably. Sometimes it’s been

so dry that you could hardly hammer the

stakes we use to tie down our aircraft into the

hard ground, and other years were so wet there

was standing water in most of the pen setups.

by Joe Duff


A NEW MIGRATION ROUTELooking for the shortest trail to a successful tale

According to Joe Duff, “The only thing moreuseless than one pilot onthe ground is four pilots on the ground.” In the photo, (L–R) Chris, Richard, Joe,and Brooke wait in vain for the low ceiling over theCumberland Ridge to lift.


A NEW MIGRATION ROUTE

This was the coldest migration I canrecall. Both Chris Gullikson and I sufferedfrostbite. But I remember some trips whenit seemed gloves were hardly necessary. In2002 we encountered the worst frost wehave ever experienced, and that was innorthern Florida.

For a while we wondered if we weren’tjust getting soft and waiting for perfectdays. But each year we live to tell a few sto-ries about rough air and low ceilings andhead winds that tested our mettle. In factsome of those memories still wake me upat night.

Each October we cross our fingers andhope for a quicker journey, but each year itdrags on longer. If we keep this up, nextseason we will arrive just in time for thebirds to head back and they will have spenttheir entire winter enroute. If nothing elseit will save the need for a wintering site.But – what would we do the followingyear? We’d still be heading south and wewould meet the adult wild birds migratingnorth, establishing some weird migrationbehavior where the birds keep moving in acontinuous circular pattern from north tosouth and back, never catching up. Morelike a Wandering albatross than Whoopingcranes.

From the time our birds hatch untilthey are released into the wild we manageevery aspect of their experience to ensurewild behavior. This brings out the latentcontrol freak in each of us. Having thecrew sit for days on end with absolutely noauthority over the weather is like trying tocontain a bag of puppies. A proactiveresponse is more in keeping with theOperation Migration philosophy, andrather than tolerate a longer migrationeach year, we plan to do what we can tocorrect it.

When our migration path was firstdesigned we intended to follow the tradi-tional route used by the Sandhill cranesthat nest in Wisconsin and winter in Flori-da. They generally take a direct path, withstops at major staging areas like JasperPulaski Fish and Wildlife Area in Indiana,and the Hiwassee State Wildlife Refuge inTennessee. Of course we had to deviatearound Chicago before we turned east.Jasper Pulaski attracts thousands of Sand-hills. It’s a major viewing area and a greatspot to see them all come into roost at

View from the pilot’s seat. This is what the test trike found one day when itwent up to check out flight conditions. It is not legal for ultralights to flyover clouds so the hoped for flight for that morning had to be aborted.

With rocky, forested steep banks on either side, and deep water below,the departure from Russell County, KY presents a potential risk to pilots.


A NEW MIGRATION ROUTE

night. Eventually we decided it would beunwise to bring our birds to Jasper for anumber of reasons.

Firstly, we were not sure if we couldconvince our birds to leave once theyfound this crane paradise. And secondlywe thought about their return trip. If theywere staging at Jasper on their migrationback north to Necedah they would have tomake a serious left turn to end up on theWisconsin side of Lake Michigan. So whilewe avoided going there, by that time theroute that would take us over the moun-tains in Kentucky and Tennessee hadalready been developed.

Although both of those states arebeautiful, their high terrain is our biggestobstacle. We can be grounded for dayswaiting for the perfect weather we need toget us ‘over the top’. Winds over flat coun-try tend to be smooth once you get up ahundred feet. Winds that hit the moun-tains are pushed up and then they tumbledown the leeward side. This action causesa wave that can extend for miles – the kindof wave that eats ultralights. The mechan-ical turbulence can turn even a relativelycalm day into torture for a pilot of an air-craft that weighs only 400 pounds.

There are three legs of our migrationthat test our nerve every year. The Cum-berland Ridge is our biggest obstacle. Butit was crossing Cumberland Lake that wasthe most uncomfortable for me this pastseason. This stopover is in the bow of ariver below the Wolf Creek Dam and issurrounded by tall ridges.

Most mornings here we are ringed byfog and sheltered from the wind that canonly get you once you climb out of thisnatural bowl. We circle several times togain enough altitude to clear the dam, andthen fly low over the deep water channel.The lake is surrounded by solid forest withsteep banks to the water’s edge, so in theevent of a problem there is no place toland. So late in the season there are norecreational boaters to pull us out if theengine so much as coughs. We can’t nor-mally get enough altitude to clear the hillson the far side, so we each pick a valley tonavigate until we can clear the highestpoints. Then we have another hour ofover-flying trees and rocks until we landjust north of the Cumberland Ridge.

This alone is justification for a change

and I have been campaigning for severalyears to move the route to the west.Instead of turning east once we are southof Chicago, we hope to continue southuntil we clear the south-western end ofthe Appalachian mountains in Alabama.Then we would turn east and continue onto the wintering grounds. We hope to finda flyway that keeps us over relatively flatground and away from major mechanicalturbulence.

When I say ‘campaigning’, I reallymean fundraising. Because it takes so longand there is so much involved, it’s anexpensive proposition to identify a newroute. But thanks to a farsighted and gen-erous supporter we now have the fundingto make it a reality.

Moving our flight path some distanceto the west may also help to reduce thedays we are grounded due to strong head-winds. The wind we encounter comes outof the south and flows in a counter-clock-wise direction. We hope that being a bitfurther to the west will increase the num-ber of days we are on the ‘backside’ of theflow, giving us wind at our backs insteadof in our faces.

Since late winter we have been hard atwork looking for a new path for futuregenerations of Whooping cranes. BevPaulan flew her Cessna 182 from Illinoisto Florida and after checking topographi-cal maps, aviation charts, and GoogleEarth, she and Brooke Pennypacker tookoff to find a way around the western tip ofthe Appalachian Mountains. Just north ofTallahassee the landscape becomes a mixof forest and agricultural land that offersboth lots of places to hold the birds andspaces to land if we have problems.

Their initial scouting revealed that bystaying north of Montgomery, Alabamaand south of Birmingham we should beable to stay over relatively flat and opencountry, missing the high peaks like weencounter in Tennessee and Kentucky.

All of this is preliminary. We have towork with state wildlife officials to help usidentify potential stopover hosts, and theWCEP Health Team will check to see ifthere are any known disease hot-spots orother concerns. It will take many moretrips – in the air, on the ground, and onpaper – before all the dots are connected.

While it looks promising so far, it still

might not work as well as we hope. Wemay just find ourselves with new stopoversites at which to spend a few weeks. But atleast we will be trying something. It’s bet-ter than trying to keep this bag of puppiescontained. n

EDITOR’S NOTE: The new migration

route will be named ‘Deke’s Way’ in

honor of former OM pilot Deke Clark.

Not unlike the Whooping crane, Deke has

embarked on his own ‘Comeback Tale’.

In 2002 he was the victim of a stroke,

and while still engaged in rehab, is

gradually recovering.

Highly respected and much loved,

Deke remains a good friend to Operation

Migration and to all of us on the OM

Team individually. While Deke won’t be

along when we fly the new westerly route,

we know that he will be with us in spirit.

Whether airborne or ground-bound, we

could not have anyone better watching

over our shoulders.

Since late winter we

have been hard at work

looking for a new path

for future generations

of Whooping cranes.


The expeditions of Captain JohnSmith to the new world between 1580 and1631 provide some of the earliest reportson the number and types of wildlifespecies that inhabited the new world.Unfortunately, early explorers and natural-ists during the first three centuries of activ-ities did not provide accurate quantifiedinformation. The early reports, however,do provide anecdotal information on thevast numbers of wildlife that obviouslyexisted here. All reports seem to be inagreement that some wildlife populationsseemed inexhaustible, but then sadly manywere exhausted due to exploitation byhumans.

Captain John Smith reported, “Inwinter there are great plenty of swans,geese, brants, ducks, wigeon.” The successor failure of the early colonists seemed tobe dependent on their abilities to takeadvantage of the vast natural resources.Although the killing of wildlife was mostcommonly associated with subsistence,some species also were killed for sport bythe colonists, especially the wealthy. Theshooting of waterfowl for sport startedmost likely in the Chesapeake Bay regionin the early 1600s.

The first concern of wildlife conserva-tion in the colonies was given in the mid-1600s by William Bradford, governor of

The science that supported the conservation movement

THE EVOLUTION OFWILDLIFE CONSERVATION

by Dr. Matthew C. Perry

CONSERVATION HAS BEEN MOST-COMMONLY DESCRIBED AS THE WISE USE OF OUR NATURAL

RESOURCES. COMMENCEMENT OF THE CONSERVATION MOVEMENT IN THIS COUNTRY HAS BEEN

ATTRIBUTED TO VARIOUS KEY ACTIVITIES THAT OCCURRED DURING THE 1900S. HOWEVER, THE RECOG-

NITION OF THE NEED TO BE CONCERNED ABOUT OUR WILDLIFE RESOURCES CAN BE TRACED TO SOME

OF THE FIRST EXPLORERS THAT VISITED THIS GREAT LAND WE NOW CALL THE UNITED STATES.

Dr. Perry is a Research Scientist at the USGS-Patuxent WildlifeResearch Center in Laurel, MD


the Plymouth Colony, who foresaw awaterfowl decline. Governor Bradford wasa strong advocate of the need to live off theland, but recognized that doing sorequired maintaining productive habitat.In 1710, Massachusetts banned the use ofboats, sailing canoes, or camouflagedcanoes in the taking of waterfowl. In 1730,Maryland prohibited the taking of water-fowl and other game at night with a gun-ning light (a practice called ‘firelighting’)and Virginia outlawed the practice in1792. Firelighting was a commonly usedhunting technique through the late 1800s.

The explorations and writings of JohnJames Audubon in the early 1800s provid-ed a fairly good description of wildlife inthe newly-formed United States duringthis period. In his book, The Canvass BackDuck, Audubon quoted Dr. J.J. Sharpless,“…innumerable ducks feeding in beds ofthousands, or filling the air [of Chesa-peake Bay] with their careening, and thatgreat flocks of swans, looking like banks ofsnow, rested near the shores.”

Some authors wrote that up to 1860wildfowl had not been hunted much, andwere unmolested during the Civil War. Butthey reported that “from 1865-90 thegreatest natural home in the world forwild ducks has been nearly devastated ofits tenants.” Although some writers dis-agreed on when the decline began, thereare numerous examples that indicate thatmortality of wildlife before the Civil Warwas excessive.

Increasing human populations in the1800s resulted in agricultural expansion inthe central part of the country. The firstSwamp Act of 1849 resulted in thedrainage of 70,000,000 acres of breedinghabitat for ducks so these areas could befarmed. Timber cutting along rivers and

lakes in the east decimated habitat neededfor species inhabiting the woodlands ofthe country, especially deer and woodducks.

The market hunting period in thecountry extended from 1865 to 1900 andwas responsible for untold numbers ofwildlife that were killed and sent to the

removal on waterfowl numbers is nottotally understood. Early in the 1900s,Theodore Roosevelt and John Muirexpressed concern for our resources, butdiffered in the approach, with Rooseveltbeing an avid consumer and Muir being atotal protector of resources.

The great decline in waterfowl popu-lations from over-harvest and loss ofhabitat essentially resulted in the end ofmarket hunting, which was outlawed in1918 by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act.This did not end the plight of waterfowl.During the early years of the 1900s, anadditional 100,000,000 acres of wetlandsin nesting areas were drained to make wayfor farming. Drainage of salt marshesalong the coast for mosquito control alsohad devastating effects on winteringwaterfowl habitat. The continentaldrought of the 1930s was the final assaulton waterfowl populations.

In the mid-1930s, new regulations,organizations, and surveys were estab-lished to protect, support, and appraisewaterfowl populations. Aerial surveys,which had begun in the 1930s, wereexpanded to include all waterfowl speciesnationwide after World War II, whenplanes became more available, to betterdocument population status.

Although several conservation activi-ties took place in the early 1900s, it wasnot until the 1930s that federal and stateagencies initiated scientific wildlife man-agement and research to support it. Aninteresting change in the relationship ofhumans and wildlife took place duringthe 1930s. Past emphasis of wildlife inves-tigations in the USDA had focused on theadverse impact of wildlife on activities ofhumans. However, the long drought ofthe 1930s, coupled with decades of wet-

THE EVOLUTION OF WILDLIFE CONSERVATION

major cities for food. Losses of waterfowland other wildlife to market hunting didnot occur only in the east.

Edward Preble reported that thou-sands of whistling (now tundra) swanswere killed on the breeding grounds fortheir down feathers. Eggs were removedfrom nests for food and for use in makingchemicals for the developing photograph-ic industry, although the effect of egg

1500s 1600s 1700sCaptain JohnSmith reported “in winter thereare great plenty of swans, geese,brants, ducks,wigeon.”

The shooting ofwaterfowl forsport started inthe ChesapeakeBay region.

Massachusetts banned theuse of boats in the takingof waterfowl.

Maryland banned thetaking of waterfowl andother game at night with a gunning light.

The Swamp act of 1849 resulted in thedrainage of 70 million acres of wetland foragricultural use. An additional 100 millionacres were drained in the early 1900s.

credit his interest and support for the for-mation of the Patuxent Research Refuge.

According to Wallace, the location ofthe Patuxent Research Refuge adjacent tothe National Agriculture Research Centerat Beltsville, Maryland, made it appropri-ate for conducting, “long-time studies onthe inter-relationships of wildlife withagriculture and forestry.” Wallace andGabrielson envisioned an area wherewildlife could be studied in relation to theproduction of agricultural crops, andwhere lands poorly suited for agriculturecould be turned back into forests, fields,and meadows, thus again becoming pro-ductive for wildlife.

The first wetland area, Cash Lake, wasbuilt by the Civilian Conservation Corps(CCC) and flooded in 1939 as a recre-ational area for fishing. The CCC was alsoresponsible for many other conservationefforts that took place throughout thecountry. They were involved with the con-struction of trails and shelters that stillexist and are used in many of our publiclands to this day. With the outbreak ofWorld War II, many of the men were calledfor military service, but older staff mem-bers and women continued the wildlifeconservation work, assisted beginning in1943, by the Civilian Public Service, anorganization for conscientious objectors,who did public service work in lieu ofserving in the military. Farm gameresearch, which compared the diversityand numbers of wildlife under variousfarming practices, began in the 1940s andthis program tried to establish a commonbond between the farmer and the wildlifethat existed on the land.

Many waterfowl impoundments thatexist throughout the country today weredeveloped during the 1940-50s, and stud-

tion Act,” and became know as the “Patux-ent Research Refuge.”

Secretary of Agriculture Henry A.Wallace dedicated the Refuge on June 3,1939, and stated, “the chief purpose of thisrefuge is to assist in the restoration ofwildlife – one of our greatest naturalresources.” Secretary Wallace recognized

land drainage by humans, devastatedNorth America's waterfowl and otherwildlife populations. Thus, Americanswere becoming more aware of the negativeimpact their activities were having onwildlife. It was appropriate, therefore, thatin 1939 the Bureau of Biological Surveywas transferred from the Department ofAgriculture to the Department of the Inte-rior. In 1940, the Bureau of Biological Sur-vey was replaced with the Fish and WildlifeService (later re-named the U.S. Fish andWildlife Service).

During the 1930s, many new pro-grams and organizations were initiated asa result of increasing concern over the sta-tus of wildlife, especially waterfowl. DucksUnlimited was formed, and money wasraised by enthusiastic supporters to buyand protect valuable production areas inCanada. The National Wildlife Federationwas also formed during this period; acoalition of hunters and non-hunters whocontinue to support this organizationtoday. Although many biologists workedon wildlife in the early 1900s, the publica-tion of Aldo Leopold’s book entitled GameManagement in 1933 essentially estab-lished the wildlife management profes-sion, and Aldo Leopold became known asthe ‘father of wildlife conservation’.

The formation of the nation’s firstwildlife research facility was one of manywildlife conservation activities of the mid-1930s. In 1936 President Franklin D. Roo-sevelt signed Executive Order 7514, whichtransferred 2,670 acres of land that hadbeen acquired (or would be acquired) bythe United States, to the Department ofAgriculture as a wildlife experiment andresearch refuge. The area, located in Mary-land, was created “to effectuate further thepurposes of the Migratory Bird Conserva-



“the vision and foresight of Dr. Ira N.Gabrielson, Chief of the Biological Sur-vey.” He further stated that the nation’sfirst wildlife research station was “themanifestation of a national determinationand a national ability to conserve andadminister wisely the organic resourcesand products of the soil – a priceless her-itage to the generations of Americans yetto come.” Although Mr. Jay N. ‘Ding’ Dar-ling, former Chief of the Bureau of Biolog-ical Survey, was not mentioned in Secre-tary Wallace's address, many persons also

1800s 1900sDr. J. J. Sharplessobserved “innu-merable ducksfeeding in bedsof thousands atChesapeakeBay.”

The Swamp Act of1849 resulted in thedrainage of 70 millionacres of breedinghabitat of ducks forfarmland.

The market huntingperiod, 1865 to 1900,was responsible forthe loss of untoldnumbers of wildlife.

The Migratory BirdTreaty Act of 1918 out-lawed market hunting.

During the same period,an additional 100 millionacres of wetlands weredrained to make way forfarming.

From 1865–1890 thegreatest natural homein the world for wildducks had been nearly devastated.

The first Whooping crane used in captivepropagation was a bird injured on itsmigration south. It was named ’Canus’, torepresent the close cooperation betweenCanada and the United States.



obtained in the food eaten by birdschanged to DDE, and then physiologicallyaffected the process of calcium depositionon the eggshell of the birds’ eggs. Althoughinitial eggshell thinning studies were con-ducted with mallards and black ducks, thefindings had major implications withother species, especially fish-eating birdssuch as the brown pelican, osprey, andBald eagle. Researchers played influentialroles by testifying during Congressionalhearings on pesticides that eventually ledto the 1972 nationwide ban of DDT andother persistent organochlorine pesticides.

Research was expanded on the verycontroversial subject of lead poisoning inwaterfowl, and studies with captive ducksshowed how ingested lead shot from shot-gun shells of hunters could easily becomelethal to ducks. In addition, extensive testswere conducted comparing the killing effi-ciencies of lead and steel shot with ducks.These studies were the basis for the 1991ban of lead shot for waterfowl hunting

The wildlife conservation period inthe United States has been marked by longseries of activities and events that havebeen both disheartening and uplifting.The fact that wildlife is a renewableresource helps alleviate humans’ past mis-takes. The knowledge and passion thathumans have for wildlife has aided in thepursuit of programs that eventually haveshown success.

Humans can be proud of their con-servation efforts, but must not lose sightof the fact that our renewable wildliferesources need habitat that is not renew-able. Increasing human populations thatcontinue to degrade or destroy habitatsneeded by wildlife populations will con-tinually exacerbate the problems facingwildlife in the future. n

ies to determine how best to manage thoseareas for wildlife were begun. Improvednest boxes were designed for wood ducksand mallards, which greatly aided the nest-ing success of these species. Drawdowntechniques for impoundments were per-fected to optimize moist-soil managementfor waterfowl. Seeds of annual plantsfound in the mud grew in great abun-dance, attracting migrating ducks to there-flooded impoundments. These tech-niques were then employed in many otherstates and countries. Extensive bandingdata for mallards was the basis for a seriesof reports, which discussed the role ofadditive and compensatory mortality withwaterfowl.

Endangered species research began inthe 1960s with Bald eagles and Whoopingcranes and captive propagation programsattained international prominence. Baldeagles were raised and many hatchlingswere transferred to nests in the wild toreplace nonviable eggs, helping manystates with bald eagle restoration projects.The first Whooping crane used in captivepropagation was a bird injured on itsmigration south. It was named ‘Canus,’ torepresent the close cooperation betweenCanada and the United States.

Pesticide research with DDT whichbegan in the 1940s, was broadened toinclude studies with other persistentchemicals. Rachel Carson’s 1962 publica-tion, Silent Spring, created great concernregarding chemicals and the effects theiruse was having on wildlife and humans. Amajor breakthrough in DDT researchoccurred in 1969 when researchers atPatuxent Wildlife Research Center pub-lished results of research linking eggshellthinning with DDT in the food of birds.

Research clearly indicated that DDT

Our renewable wildlife

resources need habitat

that is not renewable.

Increasing human

populations that

continue to degrade

or destroy habitats

will exacerbate the

problems facing

wildlife in the future.

2000sAldo Leopold’s bookGame Managementwas published in1933, and essentiallyestablished thewildlife managementprofession.

Patuxent ResearchRefuge wasformed in 1936 byexecutive order ofPresident FranklinD. Roosevelt.

Endangeredspecies researchbegan in the 1960swith Bald eaglesand Whoopingcranes.

Rachel Carson’s1962 book, SilentSpring, createdconcern aboutthe effects ofchemicals onwildlife andhumans. DDT wasbanned in 1972.

Lead shot wasbanned in 1991for waterfowlhunting.

Operation Migration completedthe first ultralight-led migrationwith reintroduced Whoopingcranes in 2001.


Environmental Change,Wildlife Health Monitoring,and Species Survival

by Katey Pelican, DMV, PhDDr. Pelican is Assistant Professor ofEcosystem Health at the Universityof Minnesota’s College of VeterinaryMedicine. A bibliography ofpublications Dr. Pelican referencedin composing this article isavailable from OM upon request.

THE EARTH IS IN A PERIOD OF RAPID ENVIRONMENTAL CHANGE,

DUE IN LARGE PART TO HUMAN ACTIVITIES. RISING GLOBAL

TEMPERATURES ARE DESTABILIZING COASTAL REGIONS, ALTERING

RAINFALL AND STORM PATTERNS, AND ACIDIFYING THE OCEANS. NINE

PERCENT OF THE WORLD’S FORESTS WERE LOST FROM 1990-2000.

THOUSANDS OF SPECIES HAVE EXPANDED THEIR RANGES INTO NAÏVE

ECOSYSTEMS AS INVASIVE POPULATIONS. THERE IS INCREASING

CONCERN ABOUT CONTAMINANTS IN OUR ENVIRONMENT AND

‘EMERGING’ CONTAMINANTS LIKE NANO-PARTICLES AND PRESCRIPTION

DRUG RESIDUES ARE POTENTIALLY HARMFUL TO ANIMAL AND HUMAN

HEALTH. NATURAL RESOURCES LIKE WATER, TIMBER, AND FISH STOCKS

ARE INCREASINGLY OVER-EXPLOITED.


SPECIES SURVIVAL

Linked to these environmentaldeclines, there is a global biodiversity andhealth crisis. Species extinction rates areoccurring at 1,000 times the backgroundrate with 23% of mammals, 12% of birds,51% of reptiles, 31% of amphibians, and40% of fishes categorized as threatened bythe IUCN. Especially concerning are theextinction crises that are affecting entireclasses of organisms.

Amphibians are declining at alarmingrates worldwide even in apparently pristinehabitats. Coral reefs have declined up to20%. The world’s pollinators are threat-ened as highlighted by the recent rapid lossof large populations of commercial honeybees in North America.

People are not immune to the effectsof environmental change either. Increasingrates of asthma, heat-related deaths,autism, and depression all have beenattributed to environmental causes. At thesame time, emerging diseases threaten allvertebrate life including wildlife, domesticanimals and humans. The spread of WestNile virus in North American birds causedillness in humans, horses, and resulted inwidespread declines in many commonNorth American birds. SARS virus inSoutheast Asia emerged from bats intohumans and wildlife, causing human ill-ness with high mortality. These eventsserve as potential sentinels of global forcesthat are destabilizing the environment and,in turn, putting people, domesticated ani-mals, and wildlife species at increased risk.

Despite the wide scale declines inwildlife populations, there is still much tolearn about why and how this is happen-ing. Populations decline, but why? In somecases, the causes seem obvious. Tigers inAsia are poached for their skins and bodyparts. The prey-base of the black-footedferret was exterminated due to conflictwith livestock. But often the causes arecomplex, and the impacts of any onesource of environmental change are subtle.

Amphibian declines have been attrib-uted to environmental contaminants, dis-ease, climate change, over-exploitation,and habitat loss. In reality, amphibians areexposed to all of these stressors and likelythey all interact to contribute to speciesdeclines. The link between environmentalchange and population decline may befound in the additive and sometimes even

compounded interactions of a mixture ofenvironmental impacts on individual ani-mal’s health and fitness, resulting ulti-mately in a loss of fitness at the popula-tion level.

Changes in immune function, repro-ductive function, and metabolic activitymay interact to push a population towarddecline. In many ways it is these more sub-tle effects on health that are more of a sen-tinel for how environmental change islikely to impact the most dominantspecies on the planet, ourselves. In fact,recent research is beginning to show thatanimal health and physiology are beingimpacted by environmental changes.Some well-documented cases include:human-induced stress, inbreeding, andenvironmental contaminants.

Exposure to chronic ‘stressors’ inducean array of responses in the body. Thebiggest change is the activation of theadrenal gland and the release of corticos-teroids like the stress hormone cortisolinto the body. This ‘stress axis’ then pre-pares the body for long-term deprivation,shutting down high-energy functions likereproduction and immune function andaltering the body’s metabolism moretoward energy saving functions. Thisworks well in the face of physiologic stres-sors like starvation but can be detrimentalwhen the stressful cues are unrelenting.

The recent discovery that cortisol lev-els can be measured non-invasively in scat

samples has allowed researchers to inves-tigate stress hormone responses in captiveand free-ranging wildlife. Elevated stresshormone levels have been measured inmale owls near logging roads compared tomales in pristine habitats. Snowmobileactivity was correlated with elevations instress hormones in elk and wolves in Yel-lowstone National Park. Marine iguana inthe Galapagos exposed to oil after an oilspill had higher stress hormone levels andthese animals in turn had higher mortali-ty rates. Free-ranging African elephantshave elevated stress hormone levels dur-ing drought. In captive cheetah, cloudedleopards, and ocelots, elevated stress hor-

Often wildlife health is

equated with lack of disease

rather than the ability of a

population to survive and

thrive in its environment.

In fact, we know almost

nothing about normal

health parameters in the

vast majority of the

species on this earth.

Amphibians are declining atalarming rates worldwide.Declines have beenattributed to environmentalcontaminants, disease,climate change, over-exploitation, and habitat loss.


mones have been associated with poorsperm quality, diminished female repro-ductive cycling rates, and disease out-breaks. It is clearly possible that elevationsin stress hormones due to human activitycould potentially have detrimentalimpacts on wildlife fitness.

Similarly, threatened wildlife in frag-mented habitats with small isolated popu-lations are under physiologic pressure astheir populations fall. Inbreeding is wellknown to be problematic for reproductionand immune function in wildlife. In wildcats, inbreeding has been shown to resultin decreased sperm quality, cryp-torchidism (undescended testes), reducedpregnancy rates, decreased litter size, andincreased cub mortality. In the FloridaPanther, a highly inbred subspecies ofpuma, males had as much as 94% abnor-mal sperm, nearly 100% cryptorchidism,and high rates of heart defects. Decreasedreproduction and fitness, in turn, drivessmall populations into a ‘vortex of extinc-tion’ where declines in fitness result insmaller populations that in turn exacer-bate the inbreeding.

Another known threat to health inwildlife is environmental contamination.There are currently 33 million chemicalsregistered by the Chemical Abstracts Ser-vice. In 2005, nine million chemicals werein commercial use but only 240,000 wereinventoried or regulated globally. Whilepesticides are nearly all closely regulatedfor their environmental effects, there aremany products that are not, includingmost household, personal care products,and pharmaceutical chemicals.

A growing list of contaminants havebeen found in high levels in wildlife pop-ulations. Substances like flame retardants,heavy metals, PCBs, and organochoridepesticides have been associated withreproductive and immune dysfunctionincluding abnormal reproductive organdevelopment, altered hormone levels,changes in immune cell numbers, andimpaired antibody response.

These examples show that we arebeginning to build an understanding ofhow environmental changes might impacthealth in wildlife. But the field of wildlifephysiology and population health is in itsinfancy. The human medical communityhas acknowledged for many years that

human health is embedded in the envi-ronment. The field of public health hasapproached human health as inseparablefrom the water people drink, the food theyeat, the animals they meet, and the land-scape they live on.

Unfortunately, the animal healthcommunity has not been as proactive inlooking at wildlife health in an equallyenvironment-based context. Often healthis equated with lack of disease rather thanthe ability of a population to survive andthrive in its environment. In fact, we knowalmost nothing about normal health

lation health both as a measure of fitnessand also as a biological sentinel of envi-ronmental impacts.

Wildlife and natural resource man-agers are increasingly faced with frustrat-ing and/or mysterious challenges at theinterface of environmental change andwildlife health. Moose in apparently goodhabitat are declining in Northern Min-nesota, fish populations are experiencinglarge-scale die-offs in Virginia’s Shenan-doah Valley, sea turtles around the globeare suffering from an epidemic of fibropa-pilloma tumors that threatens their health.

Until we understand the health andfitness of these populations in the contextof their environment, we will be constant-ly challenged to develop rational strategiesfor their management.

Veterinary schools are well positionedto meet the need for improving wildlifehealth management globally. Using themodel of human public health, veterinaryprograms must work to develop a popula-tion-based approach to wildlife-livestock-human health that would provide the toolswildlife and livestock managers need toimprove health and disease managementin these populations.

The emerging fields of EcosystemHealth and Conservation Medicine aremaking progress toward building relation-ships between the human, wildlife, anddomestic animal health communities toinvestigate mechanisms of populationdeclines, emerging disease, and declininghealth and productivity. However, most ofthese emerging programs are focusingalmost exclusively on infectious diseaseand epidemiology.

One area that is seriously under-rep-resented in this field is how various forcesof environmental change are interacting toinfluence animal (wildlife, domestic)health, fitness, and productivity. This inturn is critically important to determiningwhy diseases are emerging within certainpopulations, and also important to under-standing how animal production agricul-ture will be impacted by changes in theenvironment (climate change, contami-nants, desertification, land degradation,declines in freshwater resources) or tounderstanding wildlife survival anddeclines in the face of environmentalchanges. n

SPECIES SURVIVAL

Moose in apparently good habitat aredeclining in Northern Minnesota – one ofthe many mysterious challenges at theinterface of environmental change andwildlife health.

parameters in the vast majority of thespecies on this earth.

There are more than 40,000 knownspecies of vertebrates on the earth. Yet,when you look through the scientific liter-ature, you will find that almost nothing isknown about the normal physiology of allbut a handful of mammals, mostlydomestic animals, rodents, non-humanprimates, and humans.

What about amphibians, reptiles,fish? We do even worse. In most cases, wedon’t even know the most basic informa-tion: white blood cell levels, reproductioncycle patterns, serum enzyme levels. It isextraordinary what we don’t know of theworld that we are losing everyday. It isessential that the wildlife and veterinaryprofessions focus their attention on popu-


One hundred seventy-eightspecies in the continental U.S.and 39 in Hawaii have the dubi-

ous distinction of landing on the newestand most scientifically sound list ofAmerica’s most imperiled birds.

WatchList 2007, a joint effort ofAudubon and American Bird Conser-vancy, reflects a comprehensive analysisof population size and trends, distribu-tion, and threats for 700 bird species inthe U.S. It reveals those in greatest needof immediate conservation help simplyto survive amid a convergence ofenvironmental challenges, includinghabitat loss, invasive species, and globalwarming.

“We call this a ‘WatchList’ but it isreally a call to action, because the alter-native is to watch these species slip ever

closer to oblivion,” said Audubon BirdConservation Director and co-author ofthe new list, Greg Butcher. “Agreeing onwhich species are at the greatest risk isthe first step in building the public poli-cies, funding support, innovative conser-vation initiatives, and public commit-ment needed to save them.”

The new Audubon/American BirdConservancy WatchList identifies 59 con-tinental and 39 Hawaiian ‘red list’ speciesof greatest concern, and 119 more in the‘yellow’ category of seriously declining orrare species. It is based on the latest avail-able research and assessment from thebird conservation community along withdata from the Christmas Bird Count andthe annual Breeding Bird Survey. Thedata were analyzed and weighted accord-ing to methods developed through exten-

MORE THAN ONE-QUARTER OF UNITED STATESBIRDS NEED URGENT CONSERVATION ACTION

sive peer review and revision, yielding animproved assessment of actual peril thatcan be used to determine bird conserva-tion priorities and funding.

“Adoption of this list as the ‘industrystandard’ will help to ensure that conser-vation resources are allocated to the mostimportant conservation needs,” saidDavid Pashley, American Bird Conser-vancy’s Director of Conservation Pro-grams and co-author of the new list.“How quickly and effectively we act toprotect and support the species on thislist will determine their future; wherewe’ve taken aggressive action, we’ve seenimprovement.”

Despite ongoing challenges andtheir continued place on the list, thestatus of some WatchList species isimproving, according to the new data, as

How quickly and

effectively we act to

protect these species

will determine

their future.

WatchList 2007 Identifies Species at Greatest Risk


broader awareness of their plight hasspawned effective conservation action.Several species have benefited fromfederal protection under the EndangeredSpecies Act (ESA) and now showstabilizing, or even increasing popula-tions. Lacking an ESA designation or thepolitical support needed to secure strongprotective measures, others continue todecline.

“Habitat loss due to development,energy exploration and extraction, andthe impact of global warming remainserious threats for the most imperiledspecies, along with others on both the redand yellow lists,” said Pashley. “Concertedaction will be needed to address thesethreats.”

Listed species may seem unfamiliarto many. Unlike those on Audubon’srecent survey of Common Birds inDecline, the species on WatchList areoften rare and limited in range. In combi-nation with population declines and newthreats, these factors make many of themacutely vulnerable to extinction.

Among the most imperiled specieson the list that regularly breed in the con-tinental U.S. are:

WATCHLIST 2007

Gunnison Sage-Grouse(not on the ESA list)

This species is restricted to SouthwestColorado and adjacent Utah. Drought, whichis predicted to get worse with increased glob-al warming, is among the factors that havereduced the Gunnison Sage-Grouse popula-tion to fewer than 5,000; habitat loss andfragmentation and excessive grazing are otherthreats. Protection and restoration of con-tiguous tracts of good habitat is critical.

Lesser Prairie-Chicken(not on the ESA list)

Habitat loss and degradation haverestricted this species to a number of isolatedpopulations, many of which are on privatelands in Kansas, Colorado, Oklahoma, NewMexico, and Texas. Small population size,changing habitat resulting from drought, andclimate change threaten continued survival.

California Condor(protected by the ESA)

Once reduced to nine individual wildbirds, this raptor is slowly recovering, thanksto captive breeding and the release of individ-uals in California and Arizona. There are now305 individuals, including 148 free-flyingbirds. Lead bullets are a critical threat to long-term survival, as fragments poison wild con-dors that eat the remains of hunters’ kills.Audubon California and American Bird Con-servancy have spearheaded recent passage oflegislation eliminating lead bullets in therange of the Condor in that state.

Whooping Crane(protected by the ESA)

Unregulated shooting and loss of habitatreduced this species to fewer than 20 individ-uals around the turn of the 20th Century.Implementation of a recovery plan developedunder the Endangered Species Act has result-ed in more than a 1000% increase in popula-tion to over 200 individuals, and has spawnedefforts to establish additional wild breedingpopulations.

Piping Plover(protected by the ESA)

Protection of this shorebird’s beachfrontnesting grounds is helping to improve theoutlook for this species. Human developmentalong beaches, increased beach recreation,disturbance by pets, and increased predationrequire constant vigilance. Intensive conser-vation efforts supported by the EndangeredSpecies Act have helped stabilize populationsand allowed populations to increase in someregions of the Atlantic and Gulf coasts.

Black-capped Vireo(protected by the ESA)

Suburban development, agriculturalconversion, and fire suppression in Texas andOklahoma have decreased available breedinghabitat, reducing both the range and popula-tion size of this species. Increased predationnear human development has furtherdecreased populations, as has parasitismfrom Brown-headed Cowbirds, which laytheir eggs in Black-capped Vireo nests, out-competing the vireo chicks. Innovative con-servation efforts on public and private landsseem to be helping some populations recover.

Florida Scrub-Jay(protected by the ESA)

Suburban-exurban sprawl and agricul-tural development have reduced habitat dra-matically and isolated many populations.Maintaining natural wildfire regimes will becritical. Although ESA status has increasedconservation efforts for this species, it has notbeen enough to stop loss of habitat.

Golden-cheeked Warbler(protected by the ESA)

Breeding is restricted to the EdwardsPlateau in Texas, where suburban sprawl andhabitat destruction has greatly reduced pop-ulation size. Winter habitat loss in southernMexico and Central America may also beaffecting populations. Innovative conserva-tion strategies that protect and restore habitatin both the breeding and wintering groundsare underway and needed.

Kirtland’s Warbler(protected by the ESA)

Dependent on jack pine habitat innorthern Michigan, this warbler species hasincreased more than 600% since the mid-1980s because of management plans imple-mented under the Endangered Species Act.Singing male counts in the spring haveincreased from 200 to almost 1,400 (andsome singing males are now found in Wis-consin and Ontario). Wild land fire manage-ment, control of the parasitic Brown-headedCowbird, and protection of wintering habitatin the Bahamas remain essential to long-termsurvival.

Ashy Storm-Petrel(not on the ESA list)

Breeding populations are restricted toislands off the west coast of North America.Non-native nest predators and increased gullpopulations threaten breeding birds, andocean pollution and overfishing threatenfeeding birds.

Strategies such as coring timber to promoteRed-cockaded Woodpecker nests are helpingpopulations in some places, but restoration ofopen long-leaf pine forest is desperatelyneeded.

U.S

.F.W

.S.


Conservation action is also neededbeyond the mainland. Hawaii has thehighest proportion of native species inperil, primarily because of the state’s smallland area and wide variety of introducedinvasive animal and plant species. In addi-tion, the Hawaiian Islands are particularlyvulnerable to global warming. Hawaiianspecies facing the greatest threats are high-lighted in a special section of WatchList.

The combined WatchLists show thatimperiled birds – whether on the U.S.mainland or in Hawaii – are vulnerable tomany of the same environmental threats,including global warming, habitat loss,pollution, and non-native invasive species.Aggressive conservation action to addressthese challenges is essential to their survival.

“Everyone, from conservation groupsto policy-makers and birdwatchers, needsto take a hard look at these lists and usethem to inform and hone our conserva-tion approaches and funding prioritieswhile there’s still time,” says Butcher. “It’sastounding that several are so close to theedge but haven’t even received Endan-gered Species Act protection – this list is areminder that we need to act and act now.”

“The WatchList sounds a real warn-ing, but fortunately, when we put ourminds and laws to it, as we did with the Bald eagle, Whooping crane and Cali-fornia condor, we can make a difference,”said Pashley. n

Reprinted with the permission of the

American Bird Conservancy

WATCHLIST 2007

Kittlitz Murrelet(not on the ESA list)

Breeding and feeding habitat seems tobe linked to Alaska’s tidewater glaciers, mak-ing this species very susceptible to climatechange. Oil spills, coastal pollution, andincreased disturbance also threaten thisspecies.

Red-cockaded Woodpecker(protected by the ESA)

Habitat loss from logging in the South-east’s long-leaf pine forests and suburban andagricultural development have isolated pop-ulations and greatly reduced overall popula-tion size. Protection strategies developedthrough the Endangered Species Act are help-ing populations in many places, but restora-tion of open long-leaf pine forest is desper-ately needed.

Spectacled Eider(protected by the ESA)

Ingestion of lead shot is believed to be amajor problem for this species, along with anincrease in nest predation by foxes, mink,gulls, and jaegers in a warming Arctic. Inaddition, changing sea conditions in winterare affecting the distribution of clams – a pre-ferred winter food. Proposed oil develop-ment poses an additional and very significantthreat.

Reddish Egret(not on the ESA list)

This species forages along the GulfCoast and is subject to human disturbance atbeaches and at nesting sites. It is dependenton high quality coastal habitat for its food.Human coastal development and decreasingwater quality are serious threats.

Tricolored Blackbird(not on the ESA list)

A highly social species, this bird is foundin freshwater wetlands in the Pacific states,mainly California. With loss of this habitat,this species increasingly relies on agriculturalfields for nesting, leaving chicks vulnerable tothe harvest of hay and other crops. AudubonCalifornia and other conservationists areworking with farmers to maintain agricultur-al nesting habitat long enough each season toallow the blackbirds to successfully raise theiryoung – potentially spelling the differencebetween survival and extinction for thishighly specialized bird.

Black Rail(not on the ESA list)

This species makes its home in shallow,grassy wetlands along the Atlantic Coast, SanFrancisco Bay, southern Great Plains, and theLower Colorado River, habitat that is vulner-able to human conversion to other uses,including agriculture or other development.A secretive bird, it needs further study toincrease understanding of its natural history,ecological role, and conservation needs.

Buff-breasted Sandpiper(not on the ESA list)

Traveling each fall from Alaska toArgentina, this species is one of our champi-on long-distance migrants. Along the way, itfaces a great variety of threats, from oil devel-opment on its Arctic breeding grounds tograssland conversion to soybean fields on itsArgentinean wintering grounds. It needs pro-tected grassy stopover sites all along itsmigration route.

Saltmarsh Sharp-tailed Sparrow(not on the ESA list)

This tiny bird is restricted to a narrowband of saltmarsh along the Atlantic and GulfCoasts. It is threatened on one side by humancoastal developments and on the other by ris-ing sea levels. With even one foot of sea-levelrise from global warming, this species willneed a lot of help to maintain sufficient habi-tat for its survival.

Yellow Rail(not on the ESA list)

Rails are small, secretive birds that win-ter in wetlands along the Gulf and AtlanticCoasts. This species prefers to breed in wetgrasslands across Canada and the northerntier of states from Minnesota to Maine. Thesegrasslands are easily converted to other uses,so protection of high-quality habitat will beessential for this migratory birds’ survival.

Xantus’ Murrelet(not on the ESA list)

This tiny seabird nests on islands offsouthern California. Conservationists aretackling the major threat on the nestinggrounds – non-native predators like rats andmice. Global warming seems to wreak havocwith the water circulation and availability offood sources in the ocean, causing shortagesfor this and other coastal seabirds.

When we put our minds

and laws to it, as we did

with the Bald eagle,

Whooping crane, and

California condor,

we can make a difference.


Almost 440 million years ago, some85 percent of marine animalspecies were wiped out in the

earth’s first known mass extinction.Roughly 367 million years ago, once againmany species of fish and 70 percent ofmarine invertebrates perished in a majorextinction event. Then about 245 millionyears ago, up to 95 percent of all animals– nearly the entire animal kingdom – werelost in what is thought to be the worstextinction in history.

Some 208 million years ago, anothermass extinction took a toll primarily onsea creatures, but also some land animals.And 65 million years ago, three quartersof all species – including the dinosaurs –were eliminated.

Among the possible causes of thesemass extinctions are volcanic eruptions,meteorites colliding with the earth, and achanging climate. After each extinction, ittook upwards of 10 million years for bio-logical richness to recover. Yet once aspecies is gone, it is gone forever.

The consensus among biologists isthat we now are moving toward anothermass extinction that could rival the pastbig five. This potential sixth great extinc-tion is unique in that it is caused largelyby the activities of a single species. It is thefirst mass extinction that humans willwitness firsthand – and not just as inno-cent bystanders.

While scientists are not sure howmany species inhabit the planet today,their estimates top 10 million. Yet each year thousands of species, rangingfrom the smallest microorganisms to larger mammals, are lost for good. Somedisappear even before we know of theirexistence.

The average extinction rate is nowsome 1,000 to 10,000 times faster than therate that prevailed over the past 60 millionyears. Throughout most of geological history, new species evolved faster thanexisting species disappeared, thus contin-uously increasing the planet’s biologicaldiversity. Now evolution is falling behind.

THE SIXTH GREAT EXTINCTIONA Status Report by Janet Larsen

Research Associate, Earth Policy Institute

While this may be the first

time in history that a single

species can precipitate a

mass extinction event, it is

also the first time in history

that a single species can act

to prevent it.


Only a small fraction of the world’splant species has been studied in detail,but as many as half are threatened withextinction. South and Central America,Central and West Africa, and SoutheastAsia – all home to diverse tropical forests– are losing plants most rapidly.

Today nearly 5,500 animal species areknown to be threatened with extinction.The IUCN–World Conservation Union’s2003 Red List survey of the world’s floraand fauna showed that almost one inevery four mammal species and one ineight bird species were threatened withextinction within the next severaldecades.

Of 1,130 threatened mammalspecies, 16 percent are critically endan-gered – the highest threat level. Thismeans that 184 mammal species have suf-fered extreme and rapid reduction inpopulation or habitat and may not sur-vive this decade. Their remaining num-bers range from under a few hundred to,at most, a few thousand individuals. Forbirds, 182 of the 1,194 threatened speciesare critically endangered.

Although the status of most of theworld’s mammals and birds is fairly welldocumented, we know relatively littleabout the rest of the world’s fauna. Only 5percent of fish, 6 percent of reptiles, and 7percent of amphibians have been evaluat-ed. Of those studied, at least 750 fishspecies, 290 reptiles, and 150 amphibiansare at risk. Worrisome signs – like themysterious disappearance of entireamphibian populations and fishers’ netsthat come up empty more frequently –reveal that there may be more species introuble. Of invertebrates, includinginsects, mollusks, and crustaceans, weknow the least. But what is known, is farfrom reassuring.

At the advent of agriculture some11,000 years ago, the world was home to 6million people. Since then our ranks havegrown a thousandfold. Yet the increase inour numbers has come at the expense ofmany other species.

The greatest threat to the world’s liv-ing creatures is the degradation anddestruction of habitat, affecting 9 out of10 threatened species. Humans havetransformed nearly half of the planet’sice-free land areas, with serious effects on

the rest of nature. We have made agricul-tural fields out of prairies and forests. Wehave dammed rivers and drained wet-lands. We have paved over soil to buildcities and roads.

Each year the earth’s forest covershrinks by 16 million hectares (40 millionacres), with most of the loss occurring intropical forests, where levels of biodiversi-ty are high. Ecologically rich wetlandshave been cut in half over the past centu-ry. Other freshwater and terrestrial ecosys-tems have been degraded by pollution.Deserts have expanded to overtake previously vegetated areas, accelerated insome cases by overgrazing of domesticat-ed animals.

A recent study of 173 species of mam-mals from around the world showed thattheir collective geographical ranges havebeen halved over the past several decades,signifying a loss of breeding and foragingarea. Overall, between 2 and 10 percent ofmammal populations (groups of a singlespecies in a specific geographical location)are thought to have disappeared alongwith their habitat.

Direct human exploitation of organ-isms, such as through hunting and har-vesting, threatens more than a third of thelisted birds and mammals. Other threatsto biodiversity include exotic species,often transported by humans, which canout compete and displace native species.

A recent survey of some 1,100 animaland plant species found that climatechange could wipe out between 15 and 37percent of them by 2050. Yet the actuallosses may be greater because of the com-plexity of natural systems. The extinction

THE SIXTH GREAT EXTINCTION

“Consciously avoiding habitat

destruction and mitigating the

effects of land use change, reducing

the direct exploitation of plants and

wildlife, and slowing climate change

can help us stop weakening the very

life-support systems we depend on.”

— JA N E T LA R S E N

of key species could have cascading effectsthroughout the food web. As John Donnewrote, “no man is an island.” The same istrue for the other species we share thisplanet with: the loss of any single speciesfrom the web of life can affect many others.

Healthy ecosystems support us withmany services – most fundamentally bysupplying the air we breathe and filteringthe water we drink. They provide us withfood, medicine, and shelter. When ecosys-tems lose biological richness, they also loseresilience, becoming more susceptible tothe effects of climate change, invasions ofalien species, and other disturbances.

The 1992 Convention on BiologicalDiversity provides a framework for coun-tries to conserve biological diversity andpromote sustainable development. It hasbeen signed by 168 countries, notablyexcluding the United States. The parties,which held their seventh conference in2004 in Kuala Lumpur, set a target of sub-stantially reducing biodiversity loss by2010. Yet the convention lacks mechanismsfor action and enforcement, which maymake it difficult to achieve the target.

Consciously avoiding habitat destruc-tion and mitigating the effects of land usechange, reducing the direct exploitation ofplants and wildlife, and slowing climatechange can help us stop weakening thevery life-support systems we depend on.While this may be the first time in historythat a single species can precipitate a mass extinction event, it is also the firsttime in history that a single species can actto prevent it. n

Reprinted with permission www.earth-policy.org


Migration 2007THE CONCLUSIONby Joe Duff

Our last flight with the Class of 2007

out over the salt marsh of Chassahowitzka

National Wildlife Refuge.


At the end of migration each year we pull together all our records, tally upthe numbers and produce a final report. We include all the hours thebirds were trained, how many nights they had access to water to roost in,

and how long it took us to get them to Florida. We create comparison charts tosee how the season matched up with other years, and produce a history anddisposition graph so everything is documented.

Then come all the other reports like MileMaker sponsorships, merchandisesales, our financial statements, and the annual budget. Just about every grant wereceive requires a year-end accounting, and much of all this has to be includedin the Whooping Crane Eastern Partnership annual report.

But there are other highlights of the year that have less to do with financesand statistics and more with memories. Like the feeling you get when the birdshave been stuck in one location for a week or more, yet once the weather clearsand the pen is opened they all charge out and follow you without hesitation.Despite the delays and the longs spans without moving, this last generationfollowed better than any birds we have raised so far.

2007 MIGRATION THE CONCLUSION


There are memories of the people weworked with. Friends like Walter Sturgeonwho wanted to do the second half of themigration and joined us after a month –when we were still in Illinois. People likeJack Wrighter, who wanted to volunteertwo weeks of his time to fly top cover forus but stayed 9 weeks; and Don and PaulaLounsbury who had to leave after 6 weeksbut kept dropping in to help out until wefinally reached Florida.

I have some bad memories, like cross-ing the dark and deep waters of LakeCumberland at only a hundred feet afterjust clearing the top of the Wolf CreekDam. And surreal memories like the flightinto Halpata when we climbed above theclouds. We cruised in still, cold air with a12 mile per hour tail wind in bright sunabove a blanket of white while Jack flewahead in his Cessna to find us a hole so wecould descend. He found us a gash in theclouds 2 miles wide and ten miles longthat led us right to the airport where anaudience of 1,200 supporters waited to seethe class of 2007 finally arrive at the win-tering grounds.

We flew the length of that gap in the

clouds and started a descent from 2000feet. But the birds didn’t want to comedown. They seemed reluctant to fly in thisstrange valley; bright sky above, dark hazebelow, with walls of white looking as solidas a glacier, all moving over the landscapelike a great drifting mountain range.

We circled for 20 minutes trying toconvince the birds into the murk on thevalley floor before they came down with usand flew under the cloud base at below600 feet. They followed us past the crowdand over to the pen at Halpata.

I have fond memories of our stopoverhosts. Combined, they tolerated us forover 100 days, and some for a week ormore. They gave us a place to keep thebirds safe, our aircraft secure, and ourtrailers plugged in. But mostly they gave ustheir warm friendship.

We have memories of our last flightout over the salt marsh at Chassahowitzkawhen we said goodbye to the birds know-ing we would never fly with them again.Our time with them is finished, they arewild birds now and on their own. But thememories of our time with them will last alifetime. n

Comparison of training and migration history of first seven generations of WCEP Whooping cranes

EVENT 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 2001First / Last Hatch Date Apr 29 /Jun 10 May 5 / May 31 Apr 20 /Jun 3 Apr 20 / Jun 5 Apr 21 / May 23 Apr 12 /May 21 May 7 /May24Gender 8F / 10M 9F / 9M 9F / 12M 5F / 11M 6F / 11M 10F / 7M 4F / 6MAge Spread In Days 42 26 44 46 32 39 17 Age At First Exp. To Aircraft N/A Aver. 8.1 days Aver. 7 days 8 days 8 days 9 days 7 daysAvg. #Hrs Training At PWRC N/A 3 hrs 55 min 5 hrs 6 min 7 hrs 45 min 11 hrs 2 min 11 hrs 56 min 7 hrs 18 minPond Exposure At PWRC N/A 32 hrs 24 min 39 hrs 48 min 55 hrs 26 min 21 hrs 42min 180 hrs 40 min 19 hrs 6minBirds In Cohort 1 (C1) 3,6,7,9,10,12,13,14 1,2,4,5,6,7,8,10 1,2,3,5,6,7 1,2,3,5,6,7,8 1,2,3,4,5,6 1,2,3,4,5,7,8 1,2,3,5,6Birds In Cohort 2 (C2) 16,17,18,21,22,24 11,12,13,14,15, 8,9,10,11,12,14,15,16 12,14,15,16,17,18 7,9,10,11 9,10,11,12 4,7,9,10,11Birds In Cohort 3 (C3) 26,27,33,35 18,19,20,22,23 19,20,21,22,23,24,26 19,20,22 12,13,14,16,17,18,19 13,14,15,16,17,18 NA# Chicks Shipped To NNWR 18 18 21 16 17 17 10Avg. Days Of Age CI C2 C3 CI C2 C3 CI C2 C3 CI C2 C3 C1 C2 C1 C2 C1

At Shipping 45 45 46 48 47 52 49 49 42 53 46 41 51 43 54 45 56Shipping Date 6/19 7/31 7/18 6/26 7/6 7/20 6/15 7/6 7/13 6/19 6/30 7/15 6/19 7/1 6/12 6/27 7/10# Days At NNWR 115 101 86 102 91 77 121 100 93 117 103 88 118 106 112 107 96Fledging Date 7/28 8/6 8/31 7/28 8/10 8/20 7/15 8/1 8/14 7/17 8/02 9/16 7/19 7/30 8/18 9/30 8/29# Days Trained 67 50 40 59 52 41 56 57 69 52 41# Nites Water-Roosting Avail 109 96 82 84 75 72 93 76 99 82 9Pre-Mig. Health Check Sept 5 Sept 6, 7 Aug 30, 31 9/5 & 6 8/27 8/26, 27 & 29 9/11Cohorts United Sept 13 & 28 Sept 5 & 21 Sept 15 & 23 Sept. 6 & 21 Aug 14 & 29 Aug 25 & Sep 16 Sep 5Longest Pre-Migration Flight 28 min 26 min 32 min 47 min 33 min 24 min 27 minMigration Departure Oct 13 Oct 5 Oct 14 Oct 10 Oct 16 Oct 13 Oct 17# Cranes Began Mig. 17 18 20 14 16 17 8Total Flight Hours 37 hrs 37 min 33 hrs 40 min 31 hrs 46 min 33 hrs 7 min 31 hrs 53 min 38 hrs 36 min 35 hrs 46 minTotal Flight Days 25 22 – 24 21 – 25 21 20 22 26Total # Days On Mig. 96 – 102 76 – 78 61 – 64 64 54 49 48Longest Flight Distance 138 miles 101 miles 115 miles 157 miles 200 miles 107.2 miles 94.7 milesLongest Flight Duration 2 hrs 15 min 2 hrs 45 min 2 hrs 24 min 3 hrs 3 hrs 3 min 2 hrs 15 min 2 hrs 9 minArrival Date Halpata Jan 28/08 Dec 19/06 Dec 13/05 N/A N/A N/A N/AArrival Date Chass Jan 29/08 Jan12/07 Jan 11/06 Dec 12/04 Dec 8/03 Nov 30/02 Dec 5/01Cranes Completing Mig. 17 18 19 13 16 16 8


Little did we know…RE-CAPPING THE 2007MARATHON MIGRATION

by Liz Condie

Wisconsin October 13 to October 31With Joe in the lead, the 7th ultralight-led migration of Whooping cranes

launched from the Necedah National Wildlife Refuge in the grey dawn light ofOctober 13th. Departure was far from textbook. Pilots and ground crewscrambled to coordinate a part round-up, part circus as some birds, 710, 712,and 735 among them, preferred the security of home territory to flying overstrange ground.

Day 2 set the tone for what was to become the theme of the ’07 migration;rain, fog, and strong wrong way winds. A few years ago we established astopover only 4 miles south of the refuge – barely far enough to call it a move,but just about at the point where some nervousness would set in and causethem to turn and break for home. While this works well and for the most partovercomes birds’ penchant for turning back, being only 4 miles down the roadmeans that we don’t break camp. In fact it would be 9 days before the aircraftengines again turned over and OM’s caravan of vehicles bid farewell toNecedah.

October 23rd, ten days after launch, the cranes and planes were once againairborne. It would be another 9 days before they left the now sub-freezingtemperatures of Wisconsin behind. The Sauk to Green County departure wasone gigantic crane rodeo; the only occasion during the whole migration wherethe team encountered interference in the air. A private ultralight buzzing closeby distracted the birds.

Illinois November 1 to November 8Of all of the 7 states in the flyway, Illinois was the kindest to us this year.

We traversed its length in 8 days, the same as in 2006. Things were looking notbad. Little did we know. That was 3 more than in ’05, but a happy improvementover 2004’s 15 days we spent in, as Brooke has dubbed it, ‘The Flat’.

With disappointment, volunteer Gerald Murphy said his farewells to theMigration Team while we were in Illinois. Despite having advanced just 190miles, his ‘annual month on the job’ was over. Taking over from Gerald forwhat at that point we still expected to be another 5 or 6 weeks, was anothervolunteer, the inimitable Walter Sturgeon. Good thing Walter had just retiredfrom his position at the North Carolina State Museum of Natural Sciences asit was 9 long weeks before we could let him repack his duffle.

Not having had a departure viewing site in Illinois in recent years,Craniacs were excited to have an opportunity to watch the cranes and planestake off from two locations; LaSalle and Kankakee Counties.

While freezing temps and strong winds were still the norm, the first skipof a stopover happened in Illinois. On leaving Kankakee, the pilots called it inthe air, over-flying our Benton County stop to land in Boone County, Indiana.

October 13, just 15 days after being combined into oneflock, the Class of 2007 took to the air to learn their nextlife lesson – a migration route.

727 landed in a wooded area less than half a mile from thefirst stopover site and had to be led to the pen on foot.

“Illinois. The Land of Flat. A place of monotonous geometry;a putting green where every shot is a sinker. But monotonyis good because it is familiar, and familiarity is security, andsecurity means peace of mind.” — BROOKE PENNYPACKER

The birds seemed oblivious to the day’s strong winds andfreezing temperatures. Just ‘another day in the neighborhood’,as they explored their new pensite in Winnebago County.


Indiana November 9 to November 22Ahhhh – Indiana. The birds must have known they were visiting the home

of our good friends, Duke Energy, and for the most part were on their bestbehavior.

Comparing 2007’s progress against that of 2006, the longest migration onrecord, was irresistible. November 12 we were in Morgan County both years.Okay, we thought, maybe things aren’t as bad as we contemplated. Little did weknow!

Indiana proved to be the beginning of contrary wind patterns. Surfacewinds from one direction and winds aloft from another. Instead of north tosouth, had we been flying east to west or west to east we’d have been golden.

We actually arrived at the Muscatatuck National Wildlife Refuge in Jack-son County one day earlier than last year. Certainly not any great feat given thelength of 2006’s migration, but at least our timeline wasn’t getting worse. Lit-tle did we know! As it turned out in fact, Jackson County hosted OM’s Migra-tion Crew for Thanksgiving, usurping Cumberland County, Tennessee wherewe have spent more Thanksgiving days than anywhere else.

Kentucky November 23 to December 5We entered Kentucky with Joe’s words ringing in our ears, “That was one

heck of a ride up there today; rough, rough, rough, and cold, cold, cold. We’re[the pilots] tired, sore, and frozen.” He said, “It was hard to tell that Brooke,Chris and Richard had taken their helmets off; their faces were as white as theircostumes.”

It was on this leg, Jackson County, IN to Shelby County, KY that 733 wentAWOL. A miscue left us without top cover, so the ground crew had no GPScoordinates for where he went down. And a search that would last for 5 dayswas on.

Brian Clauss searched the entire area from Muscatatuck south, but could-n’t even get a signal. Bev and Brooke joined him, and Richard and Chris flewback with a tracking radio in one of the trikes. That first day, everyonesearched until after dark before returning to camp empty handed, forced toleave 733 to fend for himself overnight.

The mantra became, “We’ve never lost a bird. We HAVE to find 733.”While the cranes and planes continued to log migration legs, as soon as theClass of ’07 was settled in their travel pen, the crew started back tracking,ranging north, south, east and west, trying to pick up 733’s signal.

Our search for 733 triggered one of the most amazing things we’ve everexperienced. Local media picked up the story (thank you WHAS TV and theLouisville Courier-Journal particularly). WHAS even crafted a ‘Wanted Poster’.Their coverage, along with our Field Journal notices, launched an avalanche ofreports of possible sightings – estimated at more than 6,000! Our inboxes andphone lines were clogged.

However, our five days of nail-biting ended happily as you know. It isworth repeating here our joyful Field Journal entry marking the end of 733’sescapade. “Special thanks to Arthur Mayer of Scottsburg, IN who even man-aged to get a photograph when 733 landed on his property. And to John Cas-trale from the Indiana Division of Fish and Wildlife who raced to the scene andgot us pointed in the right direction. Our top cover pilots from Touch ourPlanet, Dave Mattingly and Jack Wrighter, both deserve some kind of medal.Even Windway Capital’s plane and pilot joined the action to assist and we wantto thank them too.” For OM’s exhausted crew, relief was spelled 733 is back inthe travel pen.

Neither handlers nor cranes like to be penned up any morethan necessary. Both get out for some exercise on one ofIndiana’s down days.

Windy, cold weather did nothing to discourage dedicatedCraniacs who turned up morning after morning hoping tosee the cranes and planes depart the Muscatatuck NWR.

One of the many photos we received of sightings of 733.We were excited waiting for this one to come in, but asyou can see, it turned out to be a Sandhill juvenile.

Hard to beat the beauty of this young colt as he comesin for a landing.

RE-CAPPING THE 2007 MARATHON MIGRATION



But Kentucky still wasn’t done with us. The leg from Russell County toCumberland County, Tennessee had a drama all of its own. Radiating a spiderweb of high tension power lines, the monster Wolf Creek dam with its steeprocky banks and lake of deep, cold water, is enough to make any trike pilotquestion the wisdom of their vocation. After a flight during which Joe said,“The turbulence was strong enough to make me feel like I was in a canoe in theocean,” terra firma in Tennessee was never so welcomed.

Tennessee December 6 to January 2Due to needing an almost perfect day to tackle the ‘Beast’, the Cumberland

Ridge, this first of two stops in Tennessee is traditionally where the migrationis stalled for the longest period of time.

With our luck with weather to this point we weren’t expecting miracles,but with the halfway point, Hiwassee Refuge, a short flight away, and knowingthat in the past we had completed the second half of the migration in as few as7 days, we were still optimistic of a not much past mid December finish. Littledid we know.

Cumberland County is the home of a stand up gent who has to be themost congenial, most indulgent, most tolerant, most accepting stopover hostin the history of this project. In Washington County, KY our stopover hostjoked about erecting mail boxes for us. As Christmas rolled around, our Cum-berland host told us he had started working on adoption papers.

Freezing fog, limited visibility, and low ceilings plagued us day after daywhile hopeful Craniacs waited at both our departure and arrival viewing sites inexpectation of the air show. We finally beat the Beast however, but our celebra-tion morphed into a celebration of another sort as we spent our first ever (andmay it be hopefully our last) New Year’s Eve on migration in Meigs County.

Georgia January 3 to January 14After what was a picture perfect take-off and departure from Tennessee’s

Hiwassee Refuge, the cranes and planes slipped into Georgia, concluding aflight that Brooke said, “I hated to see end – and I think the birds did too.”

Gordon County weather was a real tease. So many mornings we woke towhat appeared to be a perfect day and excitedly scurried around only to finddefeating headwinds aloft. When we finally did attempt a departure, it was into a 12-15 mph headwind, which explains landing in Haralson County, astopover we hadn’t had to use since 2004. This was also the scene of another‘wind event’. Before pilot Matt Aherns who was subbing for Joe could get histrike tied down, a freak gust of wind caught the wing and sent it tumbling endover end.

In 2006 when we chalked up the longest migration on record we made theArrival Flyover in Marion County, Florida on Day 76. In 2007 that record wentout the window while we were stuck on the ground in Haralson County, Geor-gia. With less than perfect conditions but with just 23 miles to the next stop,trikes and birds took to the air and within minutes were safely on the groundin Coweta County – a site that we hadn’t used since 2001.

With nothing being normal about this migration, it should have been nosurprise when we over-flew our usual stopover in Pike County to land in Marion County, GA, a site we had only used once before in 2005. And, willwonders never cease, we over-flew our stopover site in Terrell County, GA thatwe had used every single year but the very first, and crossed into Florida. Theend was in sight! Little did we know.

For OM’s pilots, the most beautiful side of the CumberlandRidge is the ‘other side’. Chris Gullikson leads his littlecohort down the valley toward the Hiwassee Refuge.

With pilot Brooke Pennypacker on lead, the Class of 2007makes a picture perfect departure from the Hiwassee Refuge.This photo was taken by Top Cover volunteer Tom Millerwhile flying with Top Cover pilot, Jack Wrighter.

The flight from Hiwassee, TN to Gordon County, GA is oneof the longer migration legs. Despite a freezing cold morn-ing, all 17 birds launched with Brooke, and 16 stayed onhis wing for the entire flight.

Being uncertain of which stopover they might reach, the trav-el pen wasn't set up ahead of time at the next location. Thisleft Brooke and his flying companions waiting an hour ortwo for the arrival of the ground crew hauling the travel pen.

The Sunshine State failed to live up to its reputation as themigration was stalled for a week in Hamilton County. Forthe birds, that meant 2 days of exercise and frolic in anearby pond.

An elated and relieved Joe Duff greets members of the crowdgathered at the Dunnellon Airport for the Arrival Flyover.

Florida January 15 to January 28As fate would have it, that light we saw at the end of the tunnel turned out

to be an oncoming freight train. At least that’s what it felt like hit us when aweek of rain and wind kept us nailed solid to the ground.

There was no room for complacency on this migration. On what weexpected to be a routine flight from Hamilton to Gilchrist County, the birdstreated the pilots to what they described as, “one of the all time worst cranerodeos.”

Then, although we thought the weather gods had finally given us a break,it turned out to be a trick. The sky was falling, thick fog was rolling in, and thebirds began to struggle as they breathed in the heavy, humid air. Before weknew it we had birds and pilots here, and birds and pilots there – and groundcrew running everywhere. By day’s end all but one bird (721) had been locat-ed; and with vehicles strewn out from Hamilton to Suwannee County, the crewturned in for the night.

Who said we never had any luck? Errant 721 was picked up and returnedto the fold the following morning. And then the weather gods gave us a break.The cloud cover and fog lifted just enough for the pilots to lead the Class of2007 the remaining few miles to Gilchrist County, the hoped for destination ofthe day before.

After three days of false starts, the second to the last migration leg, the onethat culminated in the Arrival Flyover at the Dunnellon Airport, finally hap-pened. The crowd, estimated at around 1,200, anxiously watched the sky as thecloud cover rolled in and dropped lower and lower. The snick and click of hun-dreds of cameras were audible as the pilots led the birds in as low as they dared,flying and circling right over the heads of excited viewers.

There were no false starts on Monday, January 28 as OM’s four pilots ledthe Class of 2007 from Marion County to their wintering ground on the Chas-sahowitzka National Wildlife Refuge. Along the way, they were able to give theCraniacs gathered in Crystal River one last viewing thrill. A 26.2 mile 42minute flight, followed by almost half an hour of circling trying to get the birdsto land, and the first ‘multi-year’ migration was over – at 8:48AM to be precise.

When we left the Necedah National Wildlife Refugeshortly after first light on Saturday, October 13,2007, little did we know…


2007 2006Days Fly Down Days Fly Down

Wisconsin 19 5 14 19 5 14Illinois 8 3 5 8 2 6Indiana 14 3 11 17 3 14Kentucky 13 3 10 4 3 1Tennessee *17 2 15 11 2 9Georgia 12 4 8 13 4 9Florida 14 4 10 6 4 **2

97 24 73 78 23 55* Not including 10 day break Dec. 18–28** Less dual arrival day

2007 2006Consecutive Fly Days Consecutive Fly Days

Nov 9 Kankakee Cty, IN to Boone Cty, IN Oct 22 Sauk Cty, WI to Green Cty, WINov 10 Boone Cty, IN to Morgan Cty, IN Oct 23 Green Cty, WI to Winnebago, ILJan 23 Hamilton Cty, FL to Suwanee Cty, FL Nov 17 Morgan Cty, IN to Jackson Cty, INJan 24 Suwanee Cty, FL to Gilchrist Cty, FL Nov 18 Jackson Cty, IN to Shelby Cty, KY

Nov 19 Shelby Cty, KY to Washington Cty, KYNov 21 Washington Cty, KY to Adair Cty, KYNov 22 Adair Cty, KY to Cumberland Cty, TNDec 2 Cumberland Cty, TN to Meigs Cty, TNDec 3 Meigs Cty, TN to Gordon Cty, GADec 15 Terrell Cty, GA to Worth Cty, GADec 16 Worth Cty, GA to Hamilton Cty, FLDec 18 Hamilton Cty, FL to Gilchrist Cty, FLDec 19 Gilchrist Cty, FL to Marion Cty, FL


How the 2007 ‘Marathon Migration’ compared to the previous ‘Longest Ever Migration’ of 2006:


Weeping WetlandsOntario Nature, recentlypublished the winningarticles from its annualYouth Writing Challenge.Grade 7 and 8 studentswere asked to writeessays on, “What theenvironment will be like in2050.” Taking top spotwas the following compo-sition by Jenna McMahonof Whitby, Ontario.

Sitting on a bench, looking into a little creek, a small trout swam by. Ducks were

quacking and splashing their wings in the water. A butterfly landed on a leaf,

moving its wings up and down slowly. The sun danced through the window into this

imitation of a wetland.

People began to come in, flooding the pavilion at the zoo to see what they could

have seen 50 years ago. The Canadian wetlands close to gone because they were seen

as a waste of land. Wetlands were so full of life like fish, birds, amphibians, and small

mammals. The marshes used to have tall and majestic Whooping cranes. But the

government flooded and poisoned their land to get rid of mosquitoes. Large marshes

bulldozed to build small cities that grow into big cities that take out other wetlands

and forests. As always, man doesn’t know what he has until it is gone.

A little girl stopped to watch the ducks playing in the water. She watched them as

though she is seeing them for the first time. The swamp where I used to see the ducks

swim filtered the water we drink, but it was removed for a mall. There used to be a

small creek by the school where that girl goes, it absorbed rain and melting snow, and

reduced flooding like it was a sponge. Then it was cut off for a playground.

I got up and walked with the crowd into the next room. An indoor pond full of

salmon was next on display. I started thinking about when I was a little girl and I’d

see them migrating through creeks. “Over 95% of southern Ontario’s wetlands are

gone. Please enjoy our display of what they would have looked like,” read the plaque

near the exhibit.

I started asking myself some questions: If I had said something about the

bulldozing of Mallard’s Marsh would the species of mallard ducks not be

endangered? If I had helped on the earth day clean up of the swamp would it still be

there? If I cared when I was a little girl would our wetlands still thrive? If it took God

millions of years to create earth, and it took man only thousands to destroy it are we

next? These thoughts went through my head from then until I was home. In 2050, the

wetlands of Canada have a dim future.

Near my house there still is a marsh. Every year birds flew through to head south.

The government called me a lot and asked that I let them put in a shopping mall. I

was going to let them until I visited the zoo that day and saw what would be gone. 30

types of migratory birds would never get south. The salmon that go through will

never lay their eggs. I decided that I would bring the mayor and convince him that

my marsh is important by showing him my wildlife and how it helps us in general.

3 YEARS LATER

Ever since the mayor said he was going to leave my marsh alone I’ve seen frogs,

salmon, Whooping cranes, canvasbacks, and even deer. Most of which I didn’t think

lived here anymore. I see them every week and it has shown me that it is the most

rewarding thing I have ever done. n

Jenna McMahon


Duke Energy joins with environmentalgroups such as Operation Migration

to protect our natural resources becausethe company can accomplish far more inpartnership than alone. As one of thenation’s leading energy companies, DukeEnergy takes its environmental obligationsseriously and demonstrates them throughair emission reductions, national advocacyfor climate change action, land preserva-tion initiatives, wetland restoration proj-ects, habitat protection programs, andreforestation efforts, to name a few.

Duke Energy also has a distinguishedrecord of support for endangered birds,including significant support for habitatsand the wildlife that depend on them. Thecompany, in partnership with the U.S. Fishand Wildlife Service and numerous others,dedicated a 463-acre wildlife management

MEET AN OM CORPORATE SPONSOR

“Operation Migration’s

2007–2008 trek to Florida

was unusually long, but it

was made considerably

easier thanks to a $75,000

grant from Duke Energy’s

Midwest charitable

foundation.”

— JO E DU F F, OM CEOA N D SE N I O R PI LOT

Duke Energy sponsors an annual EagleViewing Day at its Cayuga power plant inWest Terre Haute, Indiana.

area adjacent to Duke Energy’s Gibsonelectric power plant in southwest Indiana.The area attracts an amazing diversity ofbird life.

Duke Energy also sponsors an annualEagle Viewing Day at its Cayuga powerplant in West Terre Haute, Ind. Duringmost years the area near the plant hosts thestate’s largest population of mid-wintermigratory bald eagles. About 1,500 visitorsattended this year’s viewing. The companytries to maintain good wildlife habitataround its power plants so that wildlifesuch as eagles can live in harmony with itsoperations. n

You can learn more about Duke Energy atwww.duke-energy.com

Duke Energy, in partnership with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and numerousothers, dedicated a 463-acre wildlife management area adjacent to Duke Energy’sGibson electric power plant in southwest Indiana.

“Civilization began around wetlands; today’s

civilization has every reason to leave them

wet and wild.” — EDWA R D MA LT B Y


Wildlife PopulationsWHY WE MUST CONTROL

FOR ANYONE WHO LOVES ANIMALS AND NATURE, CONTROLLING WILDLIFE

POPULATIONS CAN BE A SENSITIVE ISSUE. THERE ARE MANY ETHICAL

CHALLENGES ASSOCIATED WITH THE KILLING, CAPTURE AND TRANSLOCATION,

CONTRACEPTION AND/OR STERILIZATION OF WILD ANIMALS. HOWEVER, IN

OUR INCREASINGLY COMPLEX WORLD, WE MUST OFTEN WEIGH COMPETING

VALUES WITH THE GOAL OF ATTAINING THE ‘GREATEST GOOD.’

by Michael Hutchins, PhDDr. Hutchins is the ExecutiveDirector and CEO of the Wildlife Society.

We must keep our eyes on

the big picture and carefully

analyze what actions will

result in the greatest good.

Indeed, there are many legitimate rea-sons for controlling wildlife populations, afact that many compassionate or sentimen-talist animal advocates seemingly prefer toignore. Increasingly, a caring attitude aboutwildlife is being equated as support for ani-mal rights. But animal rights, welfare, andconservation are very different concepts.Many do not realize that when translatedinto wildlife management or conservationpolicy, these three philosophical viewpointscan lead to very different decisions – deci-sions which can have important implica-tions for the conservation of threatened andendangered species and their habitats.

From a conservationist’s perspective,control of wildlife populations, even lethalcontrol – which some have labeled the‘nasty necessity’ – is warranted. It is a topicthat conservationists, the lay public, andpolicy makers can no longer ignore. It iscritical for the future of life on our planet.

Conservation’s goal is to conserve nat-urally occurring biological diversity. Thismeans effectively sustaining populations,species, and functioning ecosystems (habi-tat), both now and into the future. From aconservationist’s perspective, the irretriev-able loss of biological diversity (extinction)is intrinsically wrong, especially when it


occurs, whether purposeful or accidental,due to the destructive actions of humans.

The conservation ethic fully appreci-ates the interdependencies that exist innature, recognizing that through an ever-accelerating domino effect, the loss of onespecies can result in the loss of many oth-ers. In contrast, animal rights advocatesfocus their moral concern on individualanimals, or even more exclusively, on sen-tient animals – those that have the capaci-ty to suffer or experience pain. In fact,rights proponents invoke the philosophyand language of the civil rights movement,arguing that sentient, non-human ani-mals, like disadvantaged human groups(e.g. women, ethnic minorities), have anintrinsic and inviolate right to life and lib-erty. Thus any human activity that harmsindividual animals in any way is consid-ered unacceptable.

Yet, in their seemingly compassionatemessage, there is little appreciation of theweb of life and the need for functioningecosystems and biodiversity. There is alsolittle appreciation for the exceedinglycomplex challenges facing wildlife man-agers and conservationists in our contem-porary world. This explains why the fatherof animal rights, Tom Regan, has labeledany attempt to usurp the rights of individ-ual animals to conserve populations,species, or ecosystems as, ‘environmentalfascism.’ Although they are said to have‘intrinsic value’, species are viewed as the-oretical constructs, which have little rele-vance to rights philosophy. Species cannotfeel pain, and thus have no moral standingaccording to animal rights theorists.

Animal welfare philosophy is alsofocused on individual sentient animals,but is far more flexible than the rightsview. Unlike animal rights advocates, ani-mal welfare proponents do not seek toeliminate all human use of animals,including their use as food, pets, or as sub-jects of scientific experiments, but ratherthey seek to minimize any pain, suffering,or loss of life that might result from suchuse. It is a philosophy focused more on thequality of life, than it is on the so-called‘right to life.’ As such, animal welfare phi-losophy would not restrict our ability tomanage wildlife populations, especially ifit were done for conservation purposes,using methods that minimize pain, suffer-

ing, and loss of life.Of course, the reality is that in nature

there is no intrinsic and inviolate right tolife. Indeed, individual animals succumbto a variety of natural causes of mortality,including predation, accidents, starvation,aggression and competition, severe weath-er, parasites, and disease. These naturalsources of stress and mortality can causeuntold suffering among free-ranging ani-mals and are powerful agents of naturalselection – the driving force behind evolu-tionary change, and thus also the source ofmuch biological diversity. That being said,

90% of all such introductions have haddeleterious effects.

The unfortunate consequence of theaccelerated movement of people, goods,plants, domestic animals, and wildlifearound the world is an increased inci-dence of species introductions. In order toreverse such trends, conservationists haveargued that selected populations of intro-duced species must be eliminated or con-trolled. Unfortunately, some non-nativespecies have become so well establishedthat control may be the only way of miti-gating their affects on native wildlife andecosystems.

Species introductions have con-tributed to the endangerment of numer-ous native species. In fact, there are somany examples of invasive species push-ing native wildlife near or over the brinkof extinction, that it would be impossibleto list them all here. Some well-knownexamples include the loss of endemicbirds, such as the Guam kingfisher andrail, from the island of Guam followingthe introduction of the brown tree snake;the endangerment of many small marsu-pial species, such as the numbat and bilby,in Australia following the introduction ofnon-native foxes and feral housecats; andthe decline and loss of many species ofAfrican cichlids in Lake Victoria followingthe introduction of the Nile perch.

However, one example that illustratesthe distinct differences in perspectivebetween conservationists and animalrights advocates is the fate of introducedrats on California’s Channel Islands.Because of their rich concentration of bio-logical diversity, much of it unique to theregion, the Channel Islands have beencalled North America’s Galapagos. But theislands’ ecological integrity, as well as theirflora and fauna, have long been threatenedby an array of non-native species, includ-ing goats, pigs, and rats.

Rats were introduced to AnacapaIsland in the 1940s, likely as stowaways onships. Their populations subsequentlygrew, fueled by their exploitation of theisland’s natural resources. The omnivo-rous rats developed a taste for the eggs andnestlings of the many seabirds that nestthere, including the rare Xantus’ murrelet.This small black and white seabird nestson fewer than 10 islands in southern Cali-

WHY WE MUST CONTROL WILDLIFE POPULATIONS

it is certainly appropriate for wildlife man-agers and conservationists to carefullyexamine the reasons why they do whatthey do from an ethical perspective. Noone wants to take life or to cause animalsto suffer needlessly. This is a worldviewthat is shared by animal welfare advocates,wildlife managers, conservationists, andethical hunters alike.

Introduced SpeciesFrom a conservationist’s perspective,

perhaps the most obvious need for controlor elimination of wildlife populations is inthe case of introduced or exotic species,meaning those that have been introduced– either purposely or accidentally – into ahost ecosystem. Non-native species canhave significant impacts on native speciesand ecosystems. It is estimated that some

Conservation’s goal

is to conserve

naturally occurring

biological diversity.

This means

effectively sustaining

populations, species,

and ecosystems.



fornia and Baja, and up to 60% of nests onAnacapa showed signs of rat predation.

In an effort to stem the loss of rareand threatened marine bird species, theU.S. National Park Service initiated aneradication program for the rats by dis-tributing poisoned baits across the island.But animal rights advocates protested theaction, arguing that the rats had a ‘right tolife’ and that their existence on the islandwas the fault of humans. Furthermore,they argued that the rats should be live-captured and released on the mainland,where they could live out their lives inpeace. Two protesters who made their wayonto the island and tried to administer anantidote to the rats were subsequentlyarrested and the New York based, Fund forAnimals, took the Park Service to court,wasting many months and thousands ofdollars in legal fees.

In contrast, the control effort wasembraced enthusiastically by many morerational, science-based conservationorganizations, including the AudubonSociety and the American Bird Conser-vancy. The animal activists eventually losttheir case, the rats were eliminated fromthe island, and, as predicted, the seabirdpopulations have subsequently flourished.

Overabundant Native Wildlife

The need to control wildlife popula-tions is not limited to non-native species.Indigenous species can also become over-populated to the extent that they threatenthe viability of their own populations andthe habitats that support them. In doingso, they can also cause many other speciesto suffer. White-tailed deer in the easternU.S. are a cogent example. Having adaptedwell to human-altered environments, thespecies has become super-abundant. Infact, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Servicerecently estimated that there are morewhite-tailed deer in the eastern UnitedStates now than when Europeans first col-onized the continent in the 1700s.

Exploding populations are due tomany factors, including forest fragmenta-tion (deer are a forest edge-species), agri-culture, and successful management.However, what is most relevant is thatthese vast numbers of deer are creating aconservation crisis of major proportions.The hungry herbivores are consumingevery edible plant in sight, clearing out theunderstory, preventing normal forestregeneration, and reducing populations of

forest insects – an important foodresource for many native small mammalsand migratory birds. In reality, to con-serve our eastern forest ecosystems andthe biodiversity contained within, deernumbers must be controlled.

And what about the effects of deeroverpopulation on whole ecosystems andhuman and animal health? Dense popula-tions of deer increase the risk of contract-ing Lyme disease, a potentially dangerousand debilitating affliction for humans.While rodents and even birds, as well asdeer distribute Lyme disease, larger deerpopulations mean even larger populationsof deer ticks, the intermediate host. Over-population is also likely increasing theincidence of disease in deer populations.

Afflictions such as hemorrhagic dis-ease, chronic wasting disease, and para-sitic infections are on the rise. This may berelated to more frequent physical contactand/or greater proximity between indi-viduals in densely populated habitats. Thebehavioral and physiological stress associ-ated with over-population and increasedcompetition is also known to suppress ananimal’s immune system, thereby increas-ing its susceptibility to disease. Increasedcompetition for food also means higher

The rare Xantus’ murrelet in a nesting crevice on Anacapa Island,part of the Channel Islands archipelago. Up to 60% of the nestson the island showed signs of rat predation.

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risk of starvation, a prolonged and painfulroute to death, which can be quite com-mon during long, cold winters.

Some animal protection organiza-tions, such as The Humane Society of theUnited States and People for the EthicalTreatment of Animals, have typicallyopposed any attempt to control deer pop-ulations by lethal means, even when non-lethal methods, such as contraception,have proven to be of limited effectiveness.However, there is one question that so-called animal protectionists never seem topose: Are not the forest ecosystems andlives and welfare of native birds and smallmammals affected by deer overpopulationalso worthy of our moral concern?

Deer are long-lived animals and inthe absence of population control, theenvironmental and human health prob-lems they cause can be expected to contin-ue until the population is reducedthrough natural mortality – a process thatcould take many years to complete, if ever.So with no one willing to make the ‘polit-ically incorrect’ decision to reduce urbandeer numbers, the problem continuesunabated. The Insurance Institute forHighway Safety has estimated that 1.5million deer-vehicle collisions occurannually in the United States, many ofwhich result in injuries and fatalities toboth deer and people; the resultinghuman and animal suffering are enor-mous. If this is compassion at work, thenthere is a serious need for reevaluation.

When Animals Attack:Ensuring Human Safety

Culling of individual wild animalsmay also be necessary in cases where theypose a direct and immediate threat tohuman life. One of the most interesting,yet tragic, recent examples of which I amaware, involved chimpanzees in the KibaleForest in western Uganda. This case isintriguing because the species is consid-ered endangered and some compassionateconservationists and legal philosophershave argued that great apes should beaccorded the same legal rights as humans,that is, they should be granted ‘legal personhood.’

Primatologist Richard Wranghamand his colleagues were shocked whenadult male chimpanzees began huntingand killing human children in a villagenear his study site. The animals involvedin these incidents were subsequentlykilled. With people and wild animals liv-ing in such close proximity, how longwould support for African national parksand wildlife conservation persist if suchdepredations were allowed to continue? AsWrangham himself put it, “Though wemust cherish individuals, I believe we must sometimes forsake individual or community benefits for populationwelfare.”

Chimpanzee attacks on humans arerare, but similar problems occur withother species. In Africa and Asia, hundreds

of people die annually attempting todefend their crops from the largest of her-bivores; elephants. For this reason, bur-geoning elephant populations in andaround national parks and reserves mustsometimes be controlled. Also, as elephantpopulations exceed their ecological carry-ing capacity they alter habitats by convert-ing forests to grasslands or semi-desert,and affect the fate of many other speciessharing the same space, including baobabtrees, tree-nesting birds, and small mam-mals. As Ian Whyte, the biologist respon-sible for managing elephants in KrugerNational Park, South Africa, once said,“You can decide if you want to run a protected area for elephants or for biodiversity. You can’t do both.”

Endangered SpeciesRecovery

There have been numerous situationsin which endangered species recovery hasbeen aided by wildlife reintroduction ortranslocation programs. This may involvereleasing captive-bred animals into appro-priate habitats where the species has beenpreviously extirpated or moving free-ranging individuals from an area of rela-tive abundance to an area where thespecies is either absent or rare. In eithercase, the released animals are unfamiliarwith the characteristics of their new habi-tats and this can increase their susceptibil-ity to predation.

Captive-bred animals are particularlyvulnerable in this regard because theyoften have no prior experience with pred-ator avoidance or escape terrain. In suchcases, wildlife conservationists have some-times found it necessary to control popu-lations of common native predators in thearea, at least until the released animals canbecome acclimatized to their new sur-roundings.

Examples include the control of coy-ote populations in areas adjacent to black-footed ferret release sites, and the controland trapping of bobcats and other preda-tors in and around Whooping cranerelease sites. Temporary control of thesepredators may allow the endangeredspecies to gain a foothold in its new habi-tat and help to ensure its future success.Such activities would clearly be opposed


High populations of browsing White-taileddeer clear out the understory and preventnormal forest regeneration.

As African elephant populations exceed their ecological carrying capacity they alterhabitats and decrease biodiversity.



by animal rights activists, but are com-monly used conservation tools. Onceagain, the impending and irreversibleextinction of an entire species is beingweighed against the loss of a small seg-ment of an ubiquitous species, an actionthat is compatible with the conservationethic.

ConclusionOver a decade ago, renowned conser-

vation biologist Michael Soulé posed animportant challenge to the conservationcommunity. He said, “Conflicts betweenanimal rights groups and managementagencies are increasing in frequency andcost – the cost is being borne by endan-gered species and ecosystems as well as bythe public that pays for expensive rescueoperations and time consuming court bat-tles. The minimization of such conflictswill require both public education andcourageous leadership.”

I couldn’t agree more. As humancommunities have become more urban-ized, their connection to nature and wildanimals has been reduced, as has their per-ceived dependency on the natural world.This, combined with anthropomorphicand sentimental depictions of animals inthe movies, on television, and in literature,has resulted in a generation of childrenand adults who are woefully misinformed

about what it is actually going to take toconserve wildlife in our human dominatedworld.

Sentimental, emotional, and compas-sionate messages about animals can beeffective ways to stimulate people’s earlyinterests in conservation, but the messagecannot stop there. We need a public and key decision-makers who exhibit‘informed concern’, not those that respondwith knee-jerk reaction to any emotional-ly-charged issue.

Wildlife managers, conservationists,and educators need to be honest with thepublic and media to begin to increase theirunderstanding of the immense and com-plex challenges facing today’s wildlife pro-fessionals, including the need to controlselected wildlife populations in the inter-ests of conservation. In many cases, thiswill involve lethal control.

We must keep our eyes on the big pic-ture and carefully analyze what actions willresult in the greatest good. Should oursociety adopt animal rights philosophy asits guide to wildlife management policyand law, I believe that many species will berelegated to the dustbin of extinction.With its reductionist and inflexible view ofhumans’ relationship to the natural world– one that values common and rare ani-mals equally – animal rights philosophy isa poor foundation for the future of life onour planet.

Clearly, animal rights proponentsappear to have little appreciation for thecomplex web of life that is necessary tosustain biological diversity, instead focus-ing exclusively on a relatively small subsetof its component parts. As such, it is bothoverly simplistic and biologically and eco-logically naïve. The philosophical founda-tions of animal rights and conservationare thus largely incompatible, and there-fore, one cannot simultaneously considerthemselves both an animal rights advocateand conservationist. Indeed, animal rightsphilosophers have cautioned us to simply‘leave wildlife alone.’ But in today’shuman-dominated world, this can only becharacterized as ‘benign neglect.’

What animal advocates seemingly failto realize is that doing nothing is a choicetoo; one that can have many deleteriousconsequences. In an increasing number ofcases, wildlife and their habitats must beactively managed or restored if they are tosurvive.

No one ever said that biodiversityconservation was going to be easy. One ofour greatest challenges is how we willmaintain the tenuous balance that existsbetween humans and wildlife. Responsi-ble stewardship is going to involve manycomplex and difficult decisions, and, likeit or not, wildlife population managementand conservation are now literally becom-ing ‘two sides of the same coin.’ n

Temporary control and trapping of Bobcats around release sitesallow Whooping cranes to gain a foothold in their new habitatand help ensure their success.

Wetlands International, a non-gov-ernmental organization dedicated

to the conservation of wetlands, made aheartbreaking announcement in theirrecent publication ‘Waterbird Popula-tion Estimates’. Describing a wide-spread decline of nearly 50% of theworld’s species of waterbirds, the publi-cation pointed up the alarming rate ofattrition endured by nature, and illus-trated the increased devastation ofwildlife habitat by human activity.

Only 17% of monitored speciespopulations have increased since the lastcensus. 34% have remained stable, how-ever, 44% of monitored species haveeither declined in population or becomeextinct, highlighting the global extent ofhuman impact.

In Asia, an estimated 62% of water-bird species have either become extinctor endured significant populationdeclines. Similarly in Oceania, 1 in 6 birdspecies have already become extinct.

The culprit? Their survey points thefinger at habitat destruction, whichunsustainable human activity and con-tinued economic growth have devastatedworldwide. Because of their dependenceon a wide range of environmental factorsover vast areas, waterbirds are regardedas ‘keystone species’. Their decliningpopulations are considered indicator ofthe ill-health of these habitats.

As urban sprawl continues toreplace naturalized areas, the report sug-gests that these populations will contin-ue to decline at an alarming rate. Eco-nomic development also means increas-es in pollution, habitat encroachmentthrough wetland drainage, and exposureof birds to hunting.

What purpose is there in

conserving endangered

animals if they no longer

have a home? If they

have nowhere to go,

they will cease to exist.

WATERBIRDS IN DECLINEThe report states, “The stark reality

is that we must curb economic ‘develop-ment’. In Florida, Gulf Coast Prairiehabitats vital to species, including theWhooping crane, are continuallysiphoned off for land reclamation proj-ects. As these environments continue todisappear, so too do bird species whoonce thrived.”

What purpose is there in conservingendangered animals if they no longerhave a home? If they have nowhere to go,they will cease to exist. n

SOURCE: Wetland International News


“The moment one gives close

attention to anything in nature,

even a blade of grass, it becomes a

mysterious, awesome, indescribably

magnificent world in itself.”

— HE N RY MI L L E R

Did You Know?Nearly 5,500 animal species are known to be threatened with extinction.A survey of the world’s flora and fauna conducted by the World Conservation Union Red Listof Threatened Species showed that almost one in every four mammal species, and one ineight bird species, were threatened with extinction within the next several decades.

Of 1,130 threatened mammal species, 16 percent are critically endangered – the highestthreat level. This means that 184 mammal species have suffered extreme and rapid reductionin population or habitat and may not survive this decade. 182 of the 1,194 threatenedspecies of birds are critically endangered.

Species Loss WeakensEntire Ecosystems

By David T. Suzuki, PhDChair of the David Suzuki Foundation

THE WORLD CONSERVATION UNION RECENTLY RELEASED ITS ANNUAL RED LIST

OF ENDANGERED SPECIES. FOR 2007, ANOTHER 200 SPECIES WERE ADDED TO

THE EXISTING LIST OF OVER 16,000. BUT WHAT MANY PEOPLE OFTEN DON’T REALIZE

IS THAT THE DECLINE OF THESE SPECIES ISN’T JUST A SAD STORY THAT’S HAPPENING

‘OUT THERE’ IN NATURE; IT’S REALLY A STORY THAT’S HAPPENING TO US, ONE THAT

WE’RE DOING TO OURSELVES. AND IT’S MAKING ALL OF THE ECOSYSTEMS THAT WE

ULTIMATELY DEPEND ON BIOLOGICALLY POORER AND MORE VULNERABLE.


Living in cities, it’s easy to forget howmuch we depend on the services providedby healthy natural ecosystems – things likecleansing water, filtering air, and storingcarbon to reduce global warming. Ourhealth and well-being depend on theseservices, which have also been conserva-tively estimated at being worth trillions ofdollars to the global economy.

However, reading stories about howspecies are being pushed to the brink ofextinction doesn’t necessarily triggeralarm bells about our own future. Many ofthe animals in these types of stories haveexotic names from far-away places, like theYangtze River dolphin and the westernlowland gorilla, so it’s easy to gloss over itas someone else’s problem. But the realityis, in an interconnected world their prob-lem is our problem.

As hard as it may be for some peopleto believe, the other species of the worlddon’t exist just to look pretty and givetourists something to photograph. Theyactually fulfill ecological niches. Theirmere existence is often vital to the overallhealth of the ecosystem. Losing a speciesor having one pushed to the brink ofextinction can have what biologists call‘cascading’ effects on the entire region.

Consider the role of large primates intropical forests. In these forests, large pri-mates play several important roles, one ofwhich is in seed dispersal. Many tropicalprimates are frugivores, that is, their dietconsists largely of fruit. While small-seeded fruit trees may have a large numberof species, including mammals, reptiles

and birds, to help them spread their seeds,large-seeded tropical fruit trees rely largelyon bigger mammals – especially primates.

When primates, like monkeys, apes,and chimps eat fruit, they physically spreadthe seeds over a wide area of forest floor. Sothe animals receive sustenance from thefruit, while the trees get their seeds spreadacross a large area, allowing them to growelsewhere, which then provides more foodfor the primates. It’s a mutually beneficialrelationship.

But when large primates are hunted togreatly reduced numbers, as they increas-ingly are, it can have a profound impact onthe ecosystem. For example, a recent spe-cial edition of the journal Biotropicafocused on the impact of what’s called the‘bushmeat’ trade – local hunting that oftenincludes primates. In one study,researchers from the University of Illinoislooked at two sections of Peruvian forest.One section had been heavily hunted bylocal people using modern weapons, likeshotguns, and had lost more than 80 percent of its large primates. The othersection was protected from hunting. Theresearchers found that there were 55 percent fewer species of large-seeded fruittrees in the unprotected forest and 60 percent less of the fruit trees themselves. Inother words, once the large primates weregone, the trees that depended on themstarted to disappear too.

Of course, as the researchers pointout, this has a number of unfortunate con-sequences. It makes the forest less hos-pitable to large primates, so they are less

likely to be able to ever come back. Havingless fruit tree diversity makes remainingprimates more vulnerable in times ofscarcity. And the trees themselves, whichoften have economic value to humans for timber, fruit or other uses, start to disappear.

Humans depend on the services pro-vided by healthy ecosystems, so it’s in ourbest interests to conserve the creatures thatlive in them. Losing one species or having200 more hunted off to the brink ofextinction isn’t just sad news for us – it’sdangerous. n

Science Matters column by David Suzukireprinted with permission

All species fulfill ecological niches. In aninterconnected world, their problems areour problems.


Thank you for this opportunity tosubmit testimony regarding globalwarming and wildlife. More impor-

tantly, thank you for boldly taking on thisvital, often controversial issue, and seekingsolutions to the greatest challenge of ourtime.

My name is David Stalling, and I live inMissoula, Montana. I am not a scientist ora wildlife biologist. However, I am an avidhunter, fisherman, backpacker, hiker,mountain biker, backcountry skier, andsnowboarder who deeply cherishes thewildlife and wildlands surrounding myhome. That is what brought me to Montanawhen I was honorably discharged from theMarine Corps in 1986, and it’s what keepsme here. It’s my passion and love forwildlife and wild places – inspired by myhunting and fishing – that keeps me fight-ing for the conservation and protection offish and wildlife habitat and the wild placesthat sustains them. Currently, I work as agrassroots organizer for Trout Unlimited, anational nonprofit dedicated to the protec-tion of coldwater fisheries and watersheds.Prior to that, I worked for the RockyMountain Elk Foundation, another non-profit dedicated to the protection of criticalhabitat for elk and other wildlife. I have also

served two terms as President of the Mon-tana Wildlife Federation, Montana’s oldestand largest hunting, fishing, and conserva-tion organization, and often volunteer forthe National Wildlife Federation. In addi-tion, I write about wildlife, conservationand natural history for a variety of nation-al magazines, helping people develop a bet-ter understanding of science and policy inregard to wildlife and wild places.

The scientific evidence regarding cli-mate change and the consequences ofhuman-caused release of global warmingpollution, is conclusive and overwhelming,with even stronger evidence seeming tocome forth every week. Those of us who areclose to the land and spend time amongwildlife in wild places, are seeing much ofthis evidence first hand.

Two summers ago, I hiked from myfront porch in Missoula to Waterton, Alber-ta. During this eight-week, 800-mile back-pack trip, mostly off trail, I only crossedthree roads, traveling through the Rat-tlesnake, Mission Mountains, Bob Mar-shall, Great Bear and Scapegoat WildernessAreas, and Glacier National Park. This issome of the wildest, most unique and pre-cious country left in the United States, pro-viding the last strongholds for rare, threat-

I’ve Seen the Glaciers Shrinking

Montana hosts some of

the country’s last wilderness,

in serious jeopardy due to

global warming.

A HUNTER’S PERSPECTIVE ON CLIMATE CHANGE

Testimony before the Senate

Environment and Public

Works Committee for the

2007 Climate Change and

Wildlife Hearing.

By David H. StallingWildlife Advocate and Writer


I’VE SEEN THE GLACIERS SHRINKING

ened, and endangered species such as griz-zly bears, wolves, mountain lions, lynx,wolverines, and pure strains of Westslopecutthroat trout and bull trout. With strongpopulations of elk, mule deer, bighornsheep, mountain goats, moose, and otherwildlife, these places also provide some ofthe best hunting and fishing left in thenation.

But even here, in such remote, wildplaces, I witnessed evidence of what scien-tists and wildlife biologists have been warn-ing us about for years. Snowpacks, so cru-cial in the arid West for supplying water toour rivers and streams, are rapidly declin-ing. Diminished water flows make for shal-lower, warmer streams, with less oxygen,making it more difficult for coldwater fishsuch as trout to survive. Increasingly, theMontana Department of Fish, Wildlife, andParks is implementing summer closures ofrivers to fishing to protect trout overly-stressed from hot, dry conditions. On myjourney, I also saw large chunks of forestimpacted by increased occurrence ofmountain pine beetle, which scientists arelinking to trees being less resistant to insectand disease because of drier, more stressfulconditions, and was particularly concernedby the rapid death of most white barkpines, which provide an important foodsource for grizzlies and other wildlife. I alsowalked through large expanses of charredforests burned by recent wildfires. Ourwestern forests evolved with, and are adapt-ed well to fire. However, drier conditions,combined with an increase in dead treesfrom beetle infestations, are resulting inmore frequent, more damaging fires thanwhat historically and naturally occurred,with serious implications for wildlife.Towards the end of my adventure, whilehiking through Glacier National Park,I could visibly notice a profound decline inthe size of glaciers I have visited in pasttrips. Many scientists are predicting the glaciers in the park will be gone within 10 years.

I work with and speak to hunters,anglers, outfitters, guides, ranchers, countycommissioners, tribal leaders, and othersthroughout Montana and the West, and Ihear similar reports and concerns fromthem about changes on the landscape, andits impacts to water, fish, wildlife, and ourwestern way of life. What I hear from fellow

hunters and anglers is consistent with arecent survey commissioned by the Nation-al Wildlife Federation, examining the atti-tude of hunters and anglers regardingGlobal Warming: We hunters and anglersare witnessing the effects of global warmingand believe immediate action is necessaryto address it. Eighty five percent of usbelieve we have a moral responsibility toconfront global warming, and eighty per-cent of us believe our nation should be aworld leader in addressing this issue. I amdefinitely among the 75 percent of hunters

wild lands – along with related hunting,fishing, and other outdoor recreationalpursuits – provide unique cultural, social,and even spiritual values not only for usMontanans, but for all Americans. This iswhy great American leaders such asTheodore Roosevelt fought so long andhard to protect what remained, in his day,of our nation’s wildlife and wild places.Today, our wildlife and wildlands facethreats that Roosevelt probably could neverhave fathomed. But I am confident hewould not have shied away from the chal-lenge. Neither should we.

This is not, nor should be, a partisanissue. In Montana, I know Republicans,Democrats, and Independents who allshare a concern about global warming, anda desire to see something done about it.Thank you to those Senators and Congress-men who are boldly taking steps to con-front this issue. For those who are still noton board: I urge you to take a closer look atthe scientific evidence and consensus, to lis-ten to us citizens who are witnessing theimpacts first hand, set aside partisan poli-tics and various industrial and corporatepressures, and tackle this issue with thesense of urgency and immediacy required.We do, indeed, have a moral obligation todo what we can as quickly as possible.

I urge you to take immediate steps tocurtail greenhouse gas emissions; developmore conservative, responsible energy poli-cies that include alternative and renewablesources of energy, more efficient ways ofusing energy, and reduce our need to burnfossil fuels. Even with immediate, yetimportant reductions in greenhouse gasemissions, changes will continue with neg-ative impacts to fish, wildlife, and wildplaces. Therefore, I also urge you to include,in legislation regarding climate change,funding to various states specifically dedicated to help protect and restore fishand wildlife habitat through the WildlifeConservation and Restoration account ofthe Pittman-Robertson Wildlife Restora-tion Act.

As for my part, I will continue to domy best to help persuade and rally citizensto support your worthy efforts. I know thata majority of my fellow hunters and anglersin Montana, and elsewhere in our country,are already sending a message loud andclear: the time for action is now. n

and anglers who agree that Congress shouldpass legislation that sets a clear nationalgoal for reducing global warming pollutionwith mandatory timelines.

Others can speak more authoritativelyabout the importance of these wild places,wildlife, and associated hunting, fishing,and other recreational opportunities to theeconomy of Montana and the West. And it’strue. In Montana alone, more than one mil-lion people enjoy our state’s abundantwildlife each year, contributing more than$880 million to our state’s economy. Butmore importantly, our nation’s wildlife and

Endangered species like the grizzly bearare losing critical habitat.

EarthTalk

Most researchers agree that evensmall changes in temperatureare enough to send hundreds if

not thousands of already strugglingspecies into extinction unless we can stemthe tide of global warming. And time maybe of the essence: A 2003 study publishedin the journal Nature concluded that 80percent of some 1,500 wildlife speciessampled are already showing signs ofstress from climate change.

The key impact of global warming onwildlife is habitat displacement, wherebyecosystems that animals have spent mil-lions of years adapting to shift quickly. Icegiving way to water in polar bear habitat isjust one example of this. Another, accord-ing to The Washington Post, is the possibil-ity that warmer spring temperatures coulddry up critical breeding habitat for water-fowl in the prairie pothole region, astretch of land between northern Iowaand central Alberta.

Affected wildlife populations cansometimes move into new spaces and con-tinue to thrive. But concurrent humanpopulation growth means that many landareas that might be suitable for such‘refugee wildlife’ are already taken andcluttered with residential and industrialdevelopment. A recent report by the PewCenter for Global Climate Change sug-

gests creating ‘transitional habitats’ or ‘corridors’ that help migrating species bylinking natural areas that are otherwiseseparated by human settlement.

Beyond habitat displacement, manyscientists agree that global warming iscausing a shift in the timing of variousnatural cyclical events in the lives ofanimals. Many birds have altered the tim-ing of long-held migratory and reproduc-tive routines to better sync up with awarming climate. And some hibernatinganimals are ending their slumbers earliereach year, perhaps due to warmer springtemperatures.

To make matters worse, recentresearch contradicts the long-held hypoth-esis that different species coexisting in aparticular ecosystem respond to globalwarming as a single entity. Instead, differ-ent species sharing like habitat areresponding in dissimilar ways, tearingapart ecological communities millennia inthe making.

And as wildlife species go their sepa-rate ways, humans can also feel the impact.A World Wildlife Fund study found that anorthern exodus from the United States toCanada by some types of warblers led to aspread of mountain pine beetles thatdestroy economically productive balsamfir trees. Similarly, a northward migration

Source: ‘EARTH TALK’, a weekly online column that responds to questions on a widerange of environmental topics.

GLOBAL WARMING AFFECTS WILDLIFE POPULATIONS

of caterpillars in the Netherlands has erod-ed some forests there.

According to Defenders of Wildlife,some of the wildlife species hardest hit sofar by global warming include caribou(reindeer), arctic foxes, toads, polar bears,penguins, gray wolves, tree swallows,painted turtles, and salmon. The groupfears that unless we take decisive steps toreverse global warming, more and morespecies will join the list of wildlife popula-tions pushed to the brink of extinction bya changing climate. n

Emperor penguins are one of many wildlifespecies impacted by global warming.


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This issue of INformation is dedicated toOM’s big-hearted Stopover Hosts, many ofwhom, with the advent of a new migrationroute, we may no longer visit.

Without their help and generosity theannual migration would not be possible.

While we look forward to making newfriends in new places when the morewesterly route is established, we willdearly miss the camaraderie and warmhospitality of the many folks we have come to feel are like family.

We look forward to the day when we canpublish their names so that they canreceive the public acknowledgement they so richly deserve.

Migration Flight Flight Flight From County to County Down Birds Crated &Day No. Date Miles Time Days No. of Miles

1 Oct 13 4.0 0:28 Necedah – Juneau, WI 9 727 5 mi11 Oct 23 18.6 0:35 Juneau – Juneau, WI 1 726 15 mi

727 8 mi735 17 mi

13 Oct 25 23.7 1:24 Juneau – Sauk, WI 2 710 24 mi727 24 mi

16 Oct 28 45.6 1:37 Sauk – Green, WI 3 710 30 mi727 45 mi

20 Nov 1 35.8 0:47 Green – Winnebago, IL 1 714 33 mi22 Nov 3 62.8 1:23 Winnebago – La Salle, IL 3 733 20 mi26 Nov 7 59.3 1:28 La Salle – Kankakee, IL 1 0 028 Nov 9 89.6 2:06 Kankakee – Boone , IN 0 727 23 mi

733 10 mi29 Nov 10 55.2 1:20 Boone – Morgan, IN 5 0 035 Nov 16 60.9 1:28 Morgan – Jackson, IN 6 0 042 Nov 23 51.4 1:44 Jackson – Shelby, KY 1 733 45 mi44 Nov 25 48.6 1:54 Shelby – Washington, KY 8 0 053 Dec 4 64.4 1:53 Washington – Russell, KY 1 0 055 Dec 6 60.1 2:14 Russell – Cumberland, TN 10 0 066 Dec 17 10.4 0:38 Cumberland – Cumberland, TN 11 0 0

C H R I S T M A S B R E A K D E C E M B E R 1 8 – 2 8 2 0 0 7

67 Dec 29 48.1 2:15 Cumberland – Meigs, TN 4 727 48 mi72 Jan 3 72.8 2:10 Meigs – Gordon, GA 3 0 076 Jan 7 43.0 1:50 Gordon – Coweta , GA 1 0 078 Jan 9 23.2 0:48 Coweta – Haralson, GA 2 0 081 Jan 12 83.0 2:18 Haralson – Marion, GA 2 0 084 Jan 15 138.0 2:20 Marion – Hamilton, FL 7 0 092 Jan 23 35.8 1:10 Hamilton – Suwannee, FL 0 709 4 mi

712 46 mi721 6 mi724 6 mi733 1 mi717 46 mi

93 Jan 24 33.1 1:00 Suwannee – Gilchrist, FL 2 0 096 Jan 27 68.7 1:42 Gilchrist – Marion, FL 2 703 67 mi97 Jan 28 26.2 1:05 Marion – Citrus, FL 0 703 27 mi

TOTAL 1,262.3 35:37 Birds never crated: 706, 707, 713, 716, 722

2007 Migration in Numbers

Documents

SPRING 2008 and pictures. 29 Why We Must Control ... I can’t bear to part with mine as I think ... ing to their ‘Life List’. Often,