These kids probably came from dog owning families and would have similar
values to their parents.
They do not think the law applies to them.
Cliff Dent
Terrigal, NSW
-----Original Message-----
From:
On Behalf Of inger vandyke
Sent: Saturday, 16 February 2008 7:49 AM
To: ; birdingaus
Subject: Bush stone curlew in Five Dock
Hi All,
Sadly dogs aren't the only worries for Bush Stone Curlews.
As an occasional carer for wild birds in North Queensland it saddened me to
see more than just the isolated case of a bush stone curlew being injured by
humans.
The worst case I heard of? A group of primary school kids took it upon
themselves to 'stone' a nesting female curlew which left her blind, wounded
and unable to look after her newly hatched chicks. All of them died in the
end.
Why in the world would anyone do that?
People are selfish in that they complain about the noise these birds make at
night. Their series of haunting whistles is an iconic sound of the forest
in parts of North Queensland. Perhaps this bird woke someone up at night?
Justification for that type of treatment? I think not. I was appalled.
This incident occurred around 12 or so years ago on the Northern Beaches of
Cairns where Bush Stone Curlews have taken to nesting in people's garden
beds including mine which has always made me happy. To walk through a
resort in Palm Cove and see a nesting curlew in the mulch is lovely. They
camouflage themselves well, but obviously not well enough for some to seek
them out and hurt them.
I wonder that the increase in dog ownership on the Northern Beaches hasn't
affected more of them as no matter how good they are able to camouflage
themselves, dogs will find them simply out of smell.
It is such a shame to see a really charismatic bird targeted on several
fronts. Inger Vandyke Natural History Writer and Photographer Publicity
Officer - Southern Oceans Seabird Study Association (SOSSA) Mob: 0402 286
437 www.ingervandyke.com > Date: Fri, 15 Feb 2008 23:56:28 +1100> Subject:
Re: [Birding-Aus] Bush stone curlew in Five Dock> From:
> To: > > Hello,> >
Tragic story, hardly atypical. As anyone with half an eye can attest,> this
happens every ten minutes and more across the continent (and much> further
afield of course). Sadly most twitchers are not there to witness> such
events.> > Council environment officers being in a position to actually
police the> actions of dog owners is probably a fantasy that belongs deep in
the past,> if there ever was a time when such an idea was a possibility.> >
Dogs and their owners OWN the continent effectively: in the Hunter region,>
for example, they occupy every single space, from bushland to parkland,>
beaches to national parks and of course their own little “private”>
off-leash areas. Nothing is "policed" and probably never was: yet we have>
people like Adrian Franklin and many more academics asserting that the>
"eco-nationalists" are waging a war that might best be described as>
"species-cleansing" based on their ecologicaly fascistic fantasies.> > Funny
old world.> > cheers> > Craig> Hunter region> > > > Alistair et al> >> >
Perhaps in situations like this we should be more "proactive" (I hate that>
> word). We could have alerted Council's environment officer when the bird>
> turned up and alerted him/her to the danger of dog attack. Then a ranger>
> may have been posted to police dogs off leashes (against the law except
in> > some areas). Wise in hindsight but a lesson for the future maybe.> >
Apologies in advance to anyone who may have taken such action.> >> > Paul>
|
