Piping plover recoveries depends also of environmental solutions

Piping plover recoveries depends also of environmental solutions

In “Ways of Humans, Nature Take Toll on Birds” the author states how the human actions are making piping plovers become extinction. First, humans are invading and occupying piping plover's places once they were regaining it from extinction. This has made a number of piping plovers reduced by 10 percent, down to 480 from 538 within four years, due to the increase of people and human actions like allowing cats to wander free. In addition, human’s closeness endangers them by making them exposed to pets, cars and animals that eat birds. Therefore, unpaid helpers and the municipalities are observing piping plovers in 100 different places where these bird nest and live. In the past 20 years organizations like 'Mass'. Audubon have succeeded in enlarging the number of piping plover from 130 couples to 500 couples with the help of high school students. Although forests are developing, it does not help birds reproduce, and does not enable them to get food due to the lack of brightness, extended air and dry surface with ‘shrubs’. Myles Standish State Forest has favorable conditions for birds to reproduce and get food due to fire created by itself. Population growth does not favor birds like whip-poor-will, because the places where they stay are being pushed in by people using the beaches and human’s habitat can easily provide fire which, is good for birds. Birds like bobolink, the eastern meadow lark and the upland sandpiper had demonstrated an increase in growth number through the last century. However, they are uncommon these days. Consequently, to keep these birds from extinction natural fire should be allowed to a certain level and we should maintain power line right-of-way cuts at a level that is better for the birds.

Bird’s population cannot be maintained due to the water pollution, natural diseases and the tourism industry.

Contaminated water can create health problems for the piping plover. Many countries use oceans as bin trash. Therefore, most of the substances thrown in the oceans are extremely harmful. Humans can protect themselves by applying chemicals in the tanks which keep water or by buying mineral water. However, the system of protection does not apply to these birds. In addition, although we can get sick and die, we can also prevent it by saying what we are feeling. However, this bird cannot do it, making them more vulnerable to dangerous kinds of infections. For instance in my country there is an industry that throws trash in a river close to it. The number of fish in that river has decreased and of birds that stay around that place. As the water travels and rivers are connected to themselves and the ocean, it makes it even more difficult to defend them.

In these days there are so many natural diseases affecting birds, for example the avian flu, which killed over two billion bird in Europe, especially in the UK and Italy as well as in Asia. Until now the scientists have not already discovery the cure. Thus, if the same disease attacks again, many more birds will be in danger. Besides the avian flu the PBFD virus is killing many ducks in my country in 2004. Unfortunately, there is no cure for this bird’s disease.

The tourism industry contributes to the reduction of the piping plover. Most tourism industries advertise beaches and lakes. Therefore, these advertisements attract and persuade a large number of people to explore the beaches and lakes. However, piping plovers nest and feed along coastal sand and gravel beaches. Thus, these advertisements make people and birds to share the same place, which is impossible. Besides that some like to walk along the sea or lakes with their pets. Consequently, they walk on the bird’s eggs by accident. In addition, piping plover usually stops feeding when people or pets come closer. For instance, Pemba is an island in my country. It attracts a large number of tourists through advertisements making the sandy beach birds in danger. The population and tourists leave garbage on the beach, which attracts predators, drive along the sea and accidentally step on the eggs and some birds die because they are too tiny as well as their eggs. Since the tourist industry has begun to advertise nice places in my country the country’s economy has changed for better. Therefore, this situation is making the government not to abolish the advertisements because the tourism industry is making the economy to grow.

To protect piping plovers from death is quite impossible due to water pollution, natural diseases and tourism industry. The author has deep feeling concerning birds but the current environmental problems and new incurable diseases make it difficult to conserve them.

Reference:

Knox R. (2007 March, 23). Ways of Humans, Nature Take Toll on Birds. The Boston Globe.
Retrieved October 22, 2008, from Lexis Nexis.