Invasive Bird Poll - and real threats

[Penny Brockman <>]

Andrew Taylor wrote:

> On Wed, May 04, 2005 at 11:52:42AM +0800, Chris Sanderson wrote:
>  
>
> > You guys say you're not against importing "harmless" birds or plants
>  
To add to the above comments/discussion, having just been in Ushuaia, 
Southern Agentina, and spent a day wandering around the Tierra del Fuego 
National Park, there they have a severe problem caused by the 
introduction of Canadian Beavers by some person back in the 19th century 
who thought he would make money out of selling their skins. Now the 
beavers are doing what they do best, cutting beech trees to make dams, 
and creating large dams in the creeks and killing off all the other 
trees that then find themselves with their feet in water permanently. 
The local national park people are doing their best to eliminate them 
but in that terrain and with the limited resources available, it is an 
almost impossible task.
Another example of the unexpected results of a foreign importation.