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Ravens may be killed to save tortoises
By Mark Wheeler / Hi-Desert Star
MORONGO BASIN - Desert land use management agencies, under the Desert Managers Group, are training their guns on the common raven. Stating increased raven population is decimating desert tortoise numbers, the DMG is collecting public input until Aug. 16 to help it decide on a strategy for reducing the bird's impact.
In the last 30 years, according to virtually all inventories, the raven population in parts of Southern California, including the Mojave and Colorado deserts, has increased by 1,000 percent. The cause for this astonishing fruitfulness has been pinned to the spread of human habitat. Artificial water and food sources, open landfills, power poles for nesting and increased roadkill are among the many urban subsidies this resourceful species of bird has made profitable use of.
Although the raven's scavenger tastes and clever instincts might make a meal at the dump a perfectly savory dining choice most of the time, it is apparently not yet so thoroughly urbanized as to ignore the thrill of the hunt and delight of a fresh kill. Dump-side diner though the raven has become to great extent, it is still going out for native food, and baby tortoises are one of its favorite dishes.
And as the raven species' numbers increase, so goes the official argument, desert tortoises are declining rapidly.
A wholly successful solution to the problem may be too much to ask, according to DMG spokesperson and Joshua Tree National Park wildlife ecologist Amy Fesnock. However, she's quick to point out that, due to the wide-range impacts attributed to the ravens - reaching beyond just the tortoise to other species of reptiles and to some birds as well - the magnitude of the problem demands attention.
Methods under consideration for control can be grouped into two general categories: lethal and non-lethal.
The DMG has identified non-lethal strategies as reducing sources of human food, reducing roadkill carcasses in the desert tortoise habitat, removing raven nests from tortoise management areas and undergrounding utility poles, among others.
Lethal methods include selective shooting and poison.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Ray Bransfield recalls a previous attempt by the BLM to shoot ravens in the early 1990s.
Since that particular method resulted in a Humane Society lawsuit which stopped the action with a restraining order, he doesn't believe a shooting suggestion will be received with much favor this time.
Poison, on the other hand, could be used selectively, although the biologist was only willing to say the poison that would be used is selective for birds, and would be administered to individuals only with a bait mechanism.
No decisions will be made until the public input has been reviewed. Environmental assessments will then have to be done.
Anyone wishing to contribute suggestions or make comment can send written documents to: USFWS Raven Management Environmental Assessment, c/o Amy L. Fesnock, Joshua Tree National Park, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA. 92277. E-mail can be sent to: amy_fesnock@nps.gov or fax documents to (760) 367-5588.
In the last 30 years, according to virtually all inventories, the raven population in parts of Southern California, including the Mojave and Colorado deserts, has increased by 1,000 percent. The cause for this astonishing fruitfulness has been pinned to the spread of human habitat. Artificial water and food sources, open landfills, power poles for nesting and increased roadkill are among the many urban subsidies this resourceful species of bird has made profitable use of.
Although the raven's scavenger tastes and clever instincts might make a meal at the dump a perfectly savory dining choice most of the time, it is apparently not yet so thoroughly urbanized as to ignore the thrill of the hunt and delight of a fresh kill. Dump-side diner though the raven has become to great extent, it is still going out for native food, and baby tortoises are one of its favorite dishes.
And as the raven species' numbers increase, so goes the official argument, desert tortoises are declining rapidly.
A wholly successful solution to the problem may be too much to ask, according to DMG spokesperson and Joshua Tree National Park wildlife ecologist Amy Fesnock. However, she's quick to point out that, due to the wide-range impacts attributed to the ravens - reaching beyond just the tortoise to other species of reptiles and to some birds as well - the magnitude of the problem demands attention.
Methods under consideration for control can be grouped into two general categories: lethal and non-lethal.
The DMG has identified non-lethal strategies as reducing sources of human food, reducing roadkill carcasses in the desert tortoise habitat, removing raven nests from tortoise management areas and undergrounding utility poles, among others.
Lethal methods include selective shooting and poison.
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologist Ray Bransfield recalls a previous attempt by the BLM to shoot ravens in the early 1990s.
Since that particular method resulted in a Humane Society lawsuit which stopped the action with a restraining order, he doesn't believe a shooting suggestion will be received with much favor this time.
Poison, on the other hand, could be used selectively, although the biologist was only willing to say the poison that would be used is selective for birds, and would be administered to individuals only with a bait mechanism.
No decisions will be made until the public input has been reviewed. Environmental assessments will then have to be done.
Anyone wishing to contribute suggestions or make comment can send written documents to: USFWS Raven Management Environmental Assessment, c/o Amy L. Fesnock, Joshua Tree National Park, 74485 National Park Drive, Twentynine Palms, CA. 92277. E-mail can be sent to: amy_fesnock@nps.gov or fax documents to (760) 367-5588.
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