Not just these animals and birds are being hurt, but we are too-
For those who pay attention, there are many stories about increasing blockage of long seasonal migrations by wildlife. These changes are accompanied by the spread of disease, and the growth of “pest” species which are normally eaten or disrupted by these vast migrations.
The New York Times has an article on this and the need to conserve and restore, if possible, these migration corridors. For Many Species, Moving Day Has Added Stress. By Jim Robbins. New York Times.
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Ralph Maughan
Dr. Ralph Maughan is professor emeritus of political science at Idaho State University with specialties in natural resource politics, public opinion, interest groups, political parties, voting and elections. Aside from academic publications, he is author or co-author of three hiking/backpacking guides, and he is past President of the Western Watersheds Project.
A related article:
http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/10/26/arctic-predators-caught-in-the-act/?ref=wildlifeconservationsociety
A disturbing sign of the times. Habitat fragementation and loss is the biggest threat to our wildlife but it never gets the attention it deserves. I guess it’s easier for people to rail against threats they can attribute to other people than the bigger threat we are all responsible for.
We put the Native Americans all on reservations and we do the same as concerning all the wildlife it seems. This is except the reservations for the wildlife is often called a National Park, a National Wildlife Refuge, a National Wilderness Area, etc. Then we Human Two Leggeds think we can develop and use everything in between just for our selfish greeds and material gains. And then we get so upset when the wildlife gets outside of their reservations and in between us and our human development dreams. Freaking Jeminy Crickets!
I gave up keeping track of window-killed birds and road-killed mammals a decade ago. But some memorable ones: Finding a dead Wood Thrush on a downtown city sidewalk in northeastern Pa., killed when it flew into a building during migration; a dead American Woodcock found in a neighbor’s driveway, also killed when it flew into a window pane. There are many more.