Anthropomorphisation of Nature Conservation: Conservation Communication Taking a Human Lens (Part 1)
By Dorothy Tang
March 2021
As an animal lover, I find creative nature conservation measures fascinating. Last month, I came across three interesting conservation initiatives. They all called on terminologies which we are very familiar with, but we do not usually expect to see them being used for nature conservation purposes.
Birds are practicing social distancing in Washington State
The first is Social Distancing. Salmonella is a bacteria species fatal to birds. Infected birds will remain around feeding areas and attempt to feed until the terminal stages of the disease. During this period, their droppings contaminate food and water sources, transmitting the bacteria.
From February this year, Washington State has seen a large-scale and rapid spread of Salmonella in garden birds. To encourage birds to disperse and forage naturally, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is asking residents to take down their garden bird feeders until April.
With a COVID-19 term, this is essentially asking garden birds to practice social distancing.
Garden birds in a backyard in USA. Photo by elvis bueno on Unsplash.
Vaccines are being used on squirrels in UK
The second is Vaccines. It is well-known that the invasive grey squirrels are pushing the native red squirrels in UK to extinction, due to their higher competitiveness and the squirrel pox virus they transmit.
From December 2019, it has become illegal in UK to release grey squirrels into the wild. Wildlife rescue centres are forced to kill previously took-in and rehabilitated wild grey squirrels on practical and ethical grounds. Population control of grey squirrels has become an even more imminent priority.
Previous population control measures of grey squirrels have been expensive but with limited effectiveness. Most scientists now believe vaccinating squirrels is the most effective and moral solution.
On one hand, research continues to develop a squirrel pox vaccine to be used on red squirrels. On the other hand, contraceptive vaccines are used on grey squirrels to limit their expansion.
A grey squirrel foraging in a London Park. Photo by Charlotte Harrison on Unsplash.
Researchers are spreading fake news to save endangered birds in New Zealand
The Third is Fake News. Researchers in New Zealand are developing a novel way to protect endangered native shorebirds. These shorebirds have fixed nesting sites, where they always return to over the nesting season. Unfortunately, invasive animals prey on their eggs, such as cats, ferrets, and hedgehogs, pushing them to extinction.
Odorous pastes made from bird feathers have been placed across nesting sites before the shorebirds arrived for nesting. These odours have attracted the predators to the nesting sites, to which found out the birds had yet to arrive.
Subsequently, after several unrewarded visits, the predators decided that the odours were “fake news” and did not return upon the arrival of nesting birds.
A hedgehog investigates an odour point as caught on camera trap. Photo by University of Sydney and Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research