Imagine strolling through one of Rhode Island’s lovely parks or woodlands on a fine summer afternoon; now imagine the idyll is suddenly shattered by the high pitched cry and slashing claws of a giant bird. If this sounds absurd, think again; emu attacks are now a very real threat to Rhode Islanders. Emus are large flightless birds found primarily in Australia. They can grow to be seven feet tall, and mature birds have been known to breathe fire. These normally antipodal avians were introduced to Rhode Island by Eibbed Aznep in a misguided attempt to farm them for their meat, leather and oil. Sadly, this experiment went awry and some emus escaped into the wild where they have bred to alarming numbers. Rhode Islanders are now faced with dangerous wild emus which have long sharp claws, seem to target police officers especially, and attack from ambush; thus, giving their victims little time to react. Emus are the world’s most dangerous flightless birds.
Initially, a bird would not seem to be much of a threat to a human, but closer examination reveals emus to be physically formidable. While the prospect of being enveloped in flaming bird breath is frightening, it is extremely unlikely during the typical emu attack. Apparently, the incendiary exhalations evolved as a mating display and are only used to attract females and discourage rivals. Emus will, however, use their beaks to peck and bite at enemies, and the resultant bite can be quite nasty and prone to infection. The weapon of choice for Dromaius novaehollandiae, as emus are classified in Latin, is their long sharp claws. These ghastly black and yellow digits can be up to 8 inches long and are razor sharp. Further, Rhode Island’s emus are expert in their use; typically t...
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...ss birds. No other avian species need be considered; ostriches, cassowaries, nandus, rheas, kakpos, kiwis and penguins cannot begin to match the bellicosity of Rhode Island’s emus. Certainly, these species may be dangerous when cornered, but none regularly stalk and attack humans. Daunting physical prowess, exemplified by vicious claws, qualifies the emus as dangerous. But far more importantly, emus use their natural abilities in what can only be called a malevolent manner; attacks on police officers which strike at the very heart of society; and sudden, explosive ambushes which leave victims severely injured or dead. Now is the time for all Rhode Islanders to come together and find a solution for this perilous situation. Failure to act now and to act decisively will result in an ever increasing conflict between man and the world’s most dangerous flightless bird.
...cials to ban or greatly curtail vehicular and sometimes pedestrian traffic on parts of beaches where Plovers are nesting. Fire Island National Seashore has been identified as one of six crucial Plover nesting sites. In some cases beach officials have had to ban kite flying from nest areas because the Plover mistakes the kites for a predator. While the kite is in the air the birds will not leave the nest for food, subsequently plovers have starved to death. The plover is just one example of how beach officials have to balance the recreational and ecological resources of the barrier beach (Appleton & Sharp 35-38).
Every day many species are slowly becoming either endangered or extinct and recently an endangered bird species called piping plovers, started nesting on Revere Beach. What would seem as a miraculous discovery, many are averse to their new inhabitants on the beach. Many Revere residents are complaining because the piping plovers now occupy parts of “their” beach. But in the article “Revere Beach should welcome the piping plover” The Editorial Board believes that the presence of the piping plover could be greatly beneficial to the city of Revere and I certainly agree. What led me to select this particular article is my concern for the many endangered species in the world like the piping plover. Human hands have led many species to become endangered
...eestablish this subspecies' old and unoccupied range areas. These goals were assisted in 1983 when the Florida Legislature established the Florida Panther Technical Advisory Council. The commission is firmly committed to take all necessary actions within their given authority to assure recovery for the Florida panther. The panthers are still going to need broad public support and active cooperation among all management. “Civilization is the main threat to the survival of the Florida panther…”, and so it will be until we learn how to respect these species that occupied the land we take before us. A land that was not ours to take and land we truly do need as bad for survival as these creatures.
With hunters, weather changes, other sea creatures, and even being close to populated areas, Narwhals face greater chances of being harmed or killed. There are other factors like contaminants in the waters or the commercial fishi...
Rachel Carson’s seminal 1962 book, Silent Spring, told the real-life story of how bird populations across the country were suffering as a result of the widespread application of the synthetic pesticide DDT (dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane), which was being used widely to control mosquitoes and others insects. Carson reported that birds ingesting DDT tended to lay thin-shelled eggs which would in turn break prematurely in the nest, resulting in marked population declines. The problem drove bald eagles, our national symbol, not to mention peregrine falcons and other bird populations, to the brink of extinction, with populations plummeting more than 80 percent (Mildred, 2012).
Ecoterrorism is hard to define. It is used by the FBI and other government agencies to describe individuals or groups that use arson and sabotage against property, equipment, materials, or facilities that they feel are being used to destroy the environment. This is known as direct action and many such direct action tactics exist such as ecotage, eco-drama and monkeywrenching. Ecotage Acts of major economic sabotage that are designed to hurt the profits of businesses that radical environmentalists believe are profiting from environmentally harmful practices. Eco-drama (Staging non-violent, often illicit events that cause no property damage, but that are designed for the sake of gaining media attention for an environmental cause or to expose an environmental abuse. This type of action is often designed to spur a law enforcement response to maximize sympathetic media attention. Monkeywrenching was made popular by Edward Abbey's fictional work The Monkey Wrench Gang (1975). It generally refers to minor acts of vandalism or sabotage that are undertaken to frustrate the perpetrators of a perceived environmental harm (CITE).
The Piping Plover is a small, endangered bird. It is otherwise known as the Charadrius Melodus (ES: Piping Plover). It lives, and breeds along the Atlantic coast of Canada, but usually around the Great Lakes, in Canada and the U.S.A (Piping Plover Page). Recently, it has been found in the Wasaga Beach area (Springwater News). This bird has not been seen in this area since 1978, so an area of Beach 1, where the Nottawasaga River enters Nottawasaga Bay was fenced off, and could remain closed until July (Springwater News). It also lives in and around Alberta (ES: Piping Plover). These birds generally live on or close to beaches and lakes, usually places with water. This bird generally likes to be around places with sand, like beaches, because it can blend easily. The bird has a back that is sandy brown in colour, so predators can’t see it (Piping Plover Page). They are constantly losing their habitat to buildings, pollution of lakes and ponds, and clearing of forests.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Ruryk, Z. (2008, March 2). One endangered species: But pit bull attacks are down. Retrieved April 20, 2011, from Toronto Sun:
Lloyd, Robin. Theory of Flightless Birds Shot Down. 8 September 2008. Web. 1 March 2014.
Murrow, Jennifer L., Cindy A. Thatcher, Frank T. van Manen and Joseph D. Clark. A Data-Based Conservation Planning Tool for Florida Panthers. Environ Model Access 2013, 18: 159-170, DOI: 10.1007/s10666-012-9336-0
represent in real life. Birds are a part of a class of animals that have the ability to roam
American Crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos) are a species of bird found in the family Corvidae, a family that also includes magpies, nutcrackers, and jays (Eastman, 1997). According Eastman’s book Birds of Forest, Yard, and Thicket, there are around forty-two Corvus species, and most of them live in the Northern Hemisphere (1997). American Crows in the United States usually do not migrate, but they do migrate in Canada. Not all American Crows migrate, but they are social birds who form wintertime flocks that sometimes reach over 200,000 birds (Burton et al., 2010).
The warblers and larger mammal species on these islands are being affected by similar abiotic factors, but in differing ways for the biotic factors. Specifically, species richness is being affected by island biogeography and its associated costs (abiotic) as well as biotic aspects such as competition, predation pressure, and resources. First, looking at figure 1 we see a strong correlation between species richness, represented by number of different species/island, and land area on each associated island for both larger mammals (R2=0.94) and warblers (R2=0.84). This shows us that the island geography, particularly how big it is, has strong correlation to the number of different species on each island. Land area is related to a number of abiotic features such as environmental heterogeneity, disturbance frequency, distribution, and immigration (Brown et al., 2007).
...eatures feel like they are being attack they will usually fight back with painful and even deadly consequences (PADI Adventures 208-211).