Center, Internet, Wildlife Damage Management
Human–Wildlife Interactions
In the News
Date of this Version
Spring 2013
Document Type
Article
Citation
Human–Wildlife Interactions (Spring 2013) 7(1): article 1
doi: 10.26077/8c4n-ty75
Abstract
Otter finds expensive meal in England
According to an article on BBC.com (2013), a European otter (Lutra lutra) ate its way through £10,000 (US $15,400) worth of fish from a small pond in Thetford, England. The pond owners also reported that they no longer see other wildlife, including snakes, lizards, newts, and ducks in the area, apparently due to the increase of the otter population.
Increasing snow goose population threatens fragile arctic habitat
During the past 50 years, the North American snow goose (Chen caerulescens caerulescens) population has increased from 50,000 breeding pairs to >1 million breeding pairs, according to OutdoorLife.com (2013). To address the situation, the Atlantic Flyway Council has recommended extending the snow goose hunting season in several states to try to cut the goose population by 50%. Vermont and New York have already extended their snow goose hunting seasons.
House cats have greater impact on wildlife than previously thought
A USA Today article reported on a study by Loss et al. (2013) appearing in the Journal of Nature Communications, that cats (Felis catus) are estimated to kill from 1.4 to 3.7 billion birds in the continental United States each year. The results suggest that cats may be the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality of U.S. birds and mammals and that policy intervention is needed to reduce the impact of free-ranging cats.
Lear jet ambulance collides with deer; rooster attacks aircraft on tarmac
The New Haven Register, Connecticut, reported a collision between a white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) and a private Lear jet ambulance on takeoff. In a related item, the Herald-Journal (2013) in Logan, Utah, reported that a rooster (Gallus gallus domesticus) was taken into custody for attacking planes on landing and take-off at the regional airport. Local police took the rooster, “without incident”, to the Cache Humane Society.
Deer control gone wrong in Minnesota
Several residents in a Minneapolis, Minnesota, neighborhood, were surprised by gunshots and the discovery that white-tailed deer were being shot near their home. St. Louis Park, which hired Whitetail Management Company to control the deer population, has terminated its contract with the company due to the error.
Tracking moose along Canada’s roads: only a phone call away
Researchers at the University of Saskatchewan, Canada, are trying to determine why moose (Alces americanus) cross roads, the Canadian Press reported. Slowing down drivers appears to be the most inexpensive and effective way of reducing moose–vehicle collisions; however, research into determining the effects of lowering speed limits have on moose collisions have had mixed results.
Comments
United States government work. Public domain