[CINC] Island Fox Predation - Golden-Tim vs Bald-Paul

[Paul Jr. Petrich]

Marty
 Again, I will suggest a study of related history in related geographic sectors, in as diligent a manor, as specific scientific research is done. After all, is not scientific research a controlled way of trying to duplicate real world issues in a more myopic setting, with controlled variables? In this case, Catalina Island and the ongoing Bald Eagle project there since the 1980s, under Mr Sharp, is a perfect example to look at. It has taken place at the same time the Santa Catalina Conservancy saved their Island Fox population from extinction, and at the same time the surrounding marine food base for the expanding Bald Eagle population was no where near its once historic bountifulness ( when it also helped support a huge commercial and sport fishing enterprise from the mainland). Catalina's Bald Eagles, CI Fox, and sardines have all been recovering together in one big ecosystem, which should be an example of some sort in this issue:and both the eagles there and the sardine populations obviously relate heavily to any research done in the Northern C I.  Good luck, Paul

Date: Wed, 14 Jul 2010 22:40:19 -0700
From: klez18 at sbcglobal.net
To: channel_islands_naturalist_corps at rain.org
CC: Derek_Lohuis at nps.gov
Subject: [CINC] Island Fox Predation - Golden-Tim vs Bald-Paul



Dear Collegues,
 
What can we naturalist- interpreters say without compromising either scientific method or our credibility when two highly respected pre-eminent expert  biologists are apparently diametrically opposed about island fox predation?  
 
I would love to hear your thoughts and will be happy to share with any who do comment, but be sure all is done OFF the rain list to avoid inbox clutter concerns.  Thanks.
 
All the best,
 
Marty
 
http://www.miller-mccune.com/science-environment/the-primitive-science-of-restoration-5145/

The Primitive Science of Restoration
Biologists seek to “do no harm,” improve island health, get rid of human-introduced predators and untangle complex relationships that developed on the fly.
By Melinda Burns <http://www.miller-mccune.com/author/mburns/> 
 
***
During the debate over how to bring back the fox population, Paul Collins — curator of vertebrate zoology at the Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History <http://www.sbnature.org/>  and the co-author of a new study on the island fox recovery program <http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0007005>  — predicted that bald eagles, once reintroduced, might occasionally eat a fox. Now, he believes his prediction may have come true.
“There’s a good chance that we’re having predation from bald eagles,” he said. “They may be feeding on dead carcasses they find. Or they may be chasing them down and catching them. It’s not something we didn’t expect.”
 
Others say there’s no way bald
 eagles, a species native to the islands and known to eat mostly fish, could be preying on foxes. It’s much more likely, they say, that the guilty party is a transient golden eagle flying out from the mainland. Bald eagles are known scavengers, which could explain the presence of their feathers on fox carcasses.
 
“There’s absolutely no evidence that bald eagles take island foxes,” Coonan said. “We absolutely don’t believe bald eagles are responsible for any of that.” ***

 		 	   		  
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