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From: ucbesvax.turner@ucbcad.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.flame
Subject: Re: Defenseless Animals? - (nf)
Message-ID: <1043@ucbcad.UUCP>
Date: Thu, 15-Dec-83 01:19:32 EST
Article-I.D.: ucbcad.1043
Posted: Thu Dec 15 01:19:32 1983
Date-Received: Sun, 11-Dec-83 01:07:49 EST
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Organization: UC Berkeley CAD Group
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#R:ihuxm:-74000:ucbesvax:2900044:000:1500
ucbesvax!turner    Dec  8 11:29:00 1983

The arguments over the ethics of hunting will be endless--and boring.
How about a slightly more exotic issue, raised in passing in the fore-
going discussion: the use of natural carnivores as a substitute for
"herd harvesting".

In the S.F. Bay Area there is a regional park called Angel Island, which
one can reach only by boat (or by swimming, not recommended).  Every
few years, the deer population gets out of hand, and they have to close
off the island and shoot a fair number of these pathetic, diseased,
starving creatures.

A year or so ago, some one suggested transplanting some of the deer's
natural predators--coyotes, I think.  There was an immediate storm of
protest to the effect that this was inhumane, with a side-contingent
worried about coyotes carrying off people's babies, etc.  (That sort
of thing happens about once every 10 years in the country at large.)

Clearly, it's not inhumane.  I don't know what these people were thinking.
And so what if coyotes would present a possible (though very slight)
danger?  In the middle of a heavily metropolitan bay area, an island
with a large-mammal prey-predator ecosystem would be an excellent research
opportunity, and perhaps be a more exciting place to visit.  And in the
long run, the deer of Angel Island would benefit.

The outcome?  They continued with their old policy, while still trying
to figure out how to sterilize deer without scaring them so much that
they damage themselves.
---
Michael Turner (ucbvax!ucbesvax.turner)