Bring back the Great Auk (1 Viewer)

[duncan fraser]

There are no bird species listed in Annex IV because birds are treated differently. The Birds Directive lists nearly 200 species that are considered threatened within the EU. Conservation programmes aimed at preserving,boosting or reintroducing these species can be funded through the LIFE project and funding which is linked specifically to the Birds Directive.

Therefore, it is not actually an obligation to reintroduce the Great Bustard to the UK, but it is linked to the Birds Directive, LIFE funding and is part of the recommended programme advocated by the BIrds Directive and associated programmes.

 

[AlfArbuthnot]

I know I was being slightly provocative, but I admit to being sceptical of the priorities and motives behind UK conservation. Although there are almost 1,400 globally threatened bird species, Britain doesn't host a single globally threatened breeder. Yet much effort is devoted to micro-managing relict British populations of globally abundant species – technically maintaining (extremely localised!) biodiversity. It sometimes seems to be designed more to maintain an amenity for British birders and the wider public, rather than to make a balanced and meaningful contribution to global conservation measures.

I agree to some extent about the extreme myopia of UK conservation, but there is a global biodiversity issue as some British species are localised races or forms. And there is also the utilitarian argument, in that we are one of the most extremely agri-intensified and habitat-fragmented landscapes in the world, so finding solutions to species loss here will be a blueprint for what we can expect to see rolling out across the continent and beyond. The Uk is a giant ecological laboratory, and micro-management will be the name of the game as habitat fragmentation pans out across the globe.

 

[duncan fraser]

I agree to some extent about the extreme myopia of UK conservation, but there is a global biodiversity issue as some British species are localised races or forms. And there is also the utilitarian argument, in that we are one of the most extremely agri-intensified and habitat-fragmented landscapes in the world, so finding solutions to species loss here will be a blueprint for what we can expect to see rolling out across the continent and beyond. The Uk is a giant ecological laboratory, and micro-management will be the name of the game as habitat fragmentation pans out across the globe.

This sounds about right to me. There seems to be the political will to try these things out in the UK, so there may well be lessons to be learnt, and mistakes to be avoided.

 

[Ruff]

Interesting thread. I can see the feasibility of reintroducing the Great Auk and the Labrador Duck into their old environments, but Passenger Pigeons? They were birds of virtually unlimited forest tracts, most of which are gone now, and also when the famous multimillion bird flocks of them visited, the area was buried up to an inch deep in guano, and I believe I've read that their roosting trees were often denuded of branches due to the weight of the birds. I cannot see that going over in present day North America.

 

[Jan-Paul Charteris]

Interesting thread. I can see the feasibility of reintroducing the Great Auk and the Labrador Duck into their old environments, but Passenger Pigeons? They were birds of virtually unlimited forest tracts, most of which are gone now, and also when the famous multimillion bird flocks of them visited, the area was buried up to an inch deep in guano, and I believe I've read that their roosting trees were often denuded of branches due to the weight of the birds. I cannot see that going over in present day North America.

Also Passenger Pigeon is used as an example in ecology of a species which, though protected while in still "reasonable" number, needed either a certain social biology which depended on greater numbers, or possibly needed a greater gene pool to survive. Apparently even when the hunting ceased, the decline continued. Of course, as you say, the habitat now would also be very different to what it was then

 

[Richard Klim]

Adam Welz, The Guardian: NatureUp, 7 Jun 2013: De-extinction critics at Scientific American have missed the point.

Scientific American, 27 May 2013: Why Efforts to Bring Extinct Species Back from the Dead Miss the Point.

 

[Steve H.]

I know this discussion is a bit old but just wanted to make two points.
The passenger pigeon I think may have used a method of limiting predation by congregating in huge numbers so as to limit the number of natural predators in that area.A method completely ineffective against commercially opportunistic Europeans and probably not very sustainable now.
As regards the great auks migratory habits it's worth considering that many migratory species such as canada and greylag geese become sedentary when that becomes less advantageous.
The experience gained by scientists if they are successful in bringing back the great auk may have value over and above bringing back one species and I don't think is likely to reduce resources for other conservation projects which may actually benefit from the media attention.