Kill the Pig to Save the Fox

I agree with the killing of the wild feral pigs, but not wild feral cats, does that make sense? (saving an endangered species)


Conservationists Kill Pigs to Save Fox

SANTA CRUZ ISLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Norm Macdonald rises each morning with the sun, grabs his .223-caliber rifle and slips into the passenger seat of a tiny, doorless helicopter for another day of shooting pigs.

As the chopper skims over rugged terrain, Macdonald scans dozens of simple fence traps he's set up for the thousands of wild swine that have overrun this Southern California island.

When there are pigs in the traps - and there always are - Macdonald leans out and pumps two bullets into each animal: One for the heart and one for the head.

Each pig's death brings conservationists one step closer to their goal of saving the tiny Santa Cruz fox, an endangered species found only on this 96-square-mile island off Santa Barbara. Experts believe it's the best way to mend the island's delicate ecological web, which was torn when domesticated pigs escaped from now-abandoned ranches as early as the 1850s.

The killings have angered animal rights groups and forced the National Park Service and The Nature Conservancy, which co-own the island, to explain why groups dedicated to protecting animals are instead paying $5 million to kill them.

"It's not just about killing pigs, it's about saving a native species," says Lotus Vermeer, the conservancy's project director for Santa Cruz Island. "What we're choosing to do here is save biodiversity."


more

http://www.rednova.com/news/science/147557/conservationists_kill_pigs_to_save_fox/index.html

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There are a number of bird species threatened by feral cats.

Feral animals of any kind should be controlled/eliminated - they have no place in the ecosystem.

textbook wildlife management. But NOT a terribly popular opinion around these parts......Incoming!!!!!