Quote:
Originally Posted by Arizona 911
Here in Tucson, there were quite a few bighorn sheep in the mountains. Human encroachment and development put an end to the herd in the 1990's. A few months ago 31 sheep were reintroduced to the same area to bring them back to the area. So far 8 of them have died. The first few were killed by mountain lions so game & fish killed the lions. That didn't go over very well with the public. The sheep are still dying and all of their efforts will be for nothing. There is a reason the original herd disappeared. Why do they think this would work?
|
We've seen the same sad, misguided efforts on several occasions (but with different species) here in Washington. Same results, though. This is often the case when emotionally driven public sentiment is allowed to overrule or even undermine sound wildlife management practices.
The thing to do would have been to protect the land from development, to set it aside so that the sheep could flourish. The problem is, though, that the developers offered real money for the land, and not many will turn that down.
Hunters have, time and time again, stepped in with their money, lobbying clout, and other efforts to make a real difference in many, many similar situations. We can't be everywhere, though, and there is a limit to our funds. If only the non-hunting public would get on board and offer real help where it can have a real affect. They seem to excel at closing the barn door after the horses got out, and then complaining when their ill conceived plans don't work, or take some extra management efforts (like culling predators) to make it work.
We've seen it time and time again here - they will fight to "reintroduce" species against the advice of the game department, then fight the game department's policies meant to assist with the reintroduction. In their world, I guess mountain lions should understand what they are trying to do and be nice enough to leave the poor, struggling critters alone...
