Tweets,
While this IS deplorable, the main problem I see with
the Marmots, is that the captive-raised Marmots are
incredibly naive, and do not recognize predators until
they get munched. Killing eagles is treating a
symptom, NOT addressing the problem.
This is the same problem encountered with almost every
captive breeding program I have heard of. Juvenile
hatchery-raised salmon smolt get decimated when
released into the wild until the survivors get
educated. Black-footed Ferrets - I think about 1/2 of
those released starve because they do not know how to
hunt, and the other half get picked off by predators.
The Thick-billed Parrots that were released in Arizona
a few years ago, almost all of the flock were picked
off by Goshawks because they did not know or have a
chance to learn the bahavior to watch for predators
from their wild compatriots. Released Condors are
munched by Golden Eagles as well.
I do remember hearing about a study with Salmon smolt
where one group was put in a tank with a Ling-cod and
'educated' before release into the wild. Watching
your buddies get eaten might be considered an
education for the survivors ;) I believe that the
study group did show better return/survial rates than
the control group in that study.
Maybe they can turn some dogs loose on the
captive-bred marmots before releasing them? And
dive-bomb them with captive Eagles? Just enough
exposure to scare and educate them to natural dangers
before releasing them?
Condors in California are routinely hazed away from
human habitations by workers running at them,
screaming and yelling. And near the hacking sites,
fake telephone/power poles are placed for perches that
are equipped with low-voltage electrical lines and
wire 'brushes' to teach the Condors not to perch on
real power poles that could kill them.

On a related topic:
I would like to see statistics on Pergrine Falcon
survival and reproductive success for all the
individuals released by the Peregine Foundation as
well. I suspect that almost all the Peregrine Falcon
recovery in the US was natural recovery. The only
statistics I've ever seen to measure the 'success' of
the Pergrine Funds release efforts have been the
number of birds released. Not the number that
survived long enough to reproduce.
I bet I get an outraged response to this question ;)

Sorry about the long rant. Pushed one of my buttons
;)

L. Guy McWethy

--- "Guy L. Monty" wrote:
> Hi Tweeters,
> More sad
news.http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20040318/EAGLES18//?query=golden+eagle
>


=====
Guy McWethy
Renton, WA
mailto: lguy_mcw at yahoo.com

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