To:
The Honourable David Ramsay
Minister of Natural Resources
From:
Liz White, Director
Animal Alliance of Canada and Environment Voters
Barry MacKay, Canadian Representative
Animal Protection Institute and Director, Zoocheck Canada
On behalf of:
Ainslie Willock, Director
Canadians for Snow Geese
Melissa Tkachyk, Campaigner
Earthroots
AnnaMaria Valastro, Campaigner
Peaceful Parks Coalition
Julie Woodyer, Campaigns Director
Zoocheck
Subject:
Request to end the cull of Double-crested Cormorants on High Bluff Island, Presqu’ile Provincial Park
Date: June 6, 2005
Dear Mr. Ramsay:
We are writing once again to urge you to end the cull of
Double-crested Cormorants taking place on
Rationale for the
Request to end the cull: We are
asking for an immediate end to the cull because there are now hatched young in
many of the cormorant nests. Our film
footage confirms and our observers have documented cormorant feeding behaviour
throughout the colony. This behaviour
was first documented on
Also, numbers of Great Blue Herons are in decline as a direct result of the disturbances caused by your Ministry, and we fear for the Black-crowned Night Herons, a species that can be extremely sensitive to disturbances within the vicinity of their nests.
When we first had proof of the presence of cormorant chicks,
we notified the Park's staff and the shooters on
Your Ministry made a commitment in the major amendment document not to shoot parent birds with chicks. We suspect that Ministry staff are telling you that through accurate observation and management modifications cormorants with live young can be avoided. This was confirmed by our observers in a conversation with one of your park staff.
If this is the case, we respectfully and strongly challenge your staff’s claim. Even naturalists and ornithologists who are experienced in the field cannot do what you staff are claiming to do – see through the bottoms of overhead nests. Tree climbing, as one park staff member has done, provides a view of the contents of only a tiny percentage of the nests present.
Anyone who has observed the complexity of the colony
including massive bird activity to and from the
In fact Ministry staff can reliably give you no such assurances. They shoot from the ground into the trees at an angle that precludes them from being able to determine whether or not there are hatched young in the nests. Our observers have seen the shooters firing their guns in areas where increased cormorant chick-feeding behaviour has been documented. These observations are supported by our film footage which shows birds feeding and caring for their young with one parent dead in the nest and with multiple nests with dead birds in close proximity.
Therefore we implore you to intervene and end the cull now,
otherwise the Ministry will be the cause of orphaned cormorant chicks who will
be left to die from dehydration, hypothermia or starvation. We find such deliberate abuse of animals
intolerable and avoidable. All
indications are that the species is regionally in decline, the population
having peaked in
Rationale for
reviewing the management activities: For the first time, independent observers have been present to assess
the management actions of Ministry staff in controlling the cormorant colony on
Management actions are extremely disruptive: Based on past experience, we fully anticipate that Ministry staff will attempt to blame our observers for disrupting the colony and for prolonging the cull. It is absurd to say that the actions of our observers in canoes, kayaks and small motor-boats are disruptive when the Ministry staff invade the island from March to the end in September using guns, flares, nest destruction equipment, and all-terrain vehicles to disrupt and kill the cormorants.
We have had multiple observers on
the water at
They are concerned about the welfare of the three nesting heron species, and avoid proximity to them if there is no shooting near by. But it should be noted that there has been, even by Ministry staff admissions, a decline in Great Blue herons who normally nest amid cormorant nests in mixed colonies. They arrive after the cormorants, and reached their own peak abundance coincident to the maximum number of cormorants nesting there.
Our observers have documented the degree of disruption caused by Ministry actions on the island. The greatest disruption occurs when culling takes place. Unlike the description in the management reports, the shooting causes what can only be described as mass chaos in the colony, with huge numbers of birds flying to get away from the guns. Shooting takes place for approximately one hour in one location. The shooters move to another location, let the birds settle and them begin another round of chaotic pandemonium in another part of the colony. To collect the dead and injured birds, the Ministry uses all-terrain vehicles, which again are disruptive to the colony and to vegetation.
Recently, the ministry was on the island building exclosures for deer. The actions all contradict even the Ministry’s own guidelines for activities around Great Blue Herons, one of the species of birds the Ministry says it is protecting. Herons and cormorants have co-evolved through tens of millions of years. They do not need protection from each other but do require protection from over-zealous management.
Disruption
and pollution of High Bluff Island Habitat: Management
activities are impacting on
Use of lead bullets: Despite contrary advice, your Ministry
continues to use lead bullets to kill the cormorants. In the previous year, your staff unloaded a
minimum of 6,000 lead bullets into what the Ministry describes as a sensitive
and beautiful habitat on
Toxins found in the composter used to
dispose of the dead cormorants: Tests
of the compost material identified levels of mercury and selenium well above
Ministry of Environment guidelines for ground spreading on the island. It is likely that the materials will have to
be removed from the island for incineration.
Your Ministry ought to have concerns about the results of the
tests. First, your staff should be
worried about the concentration of such problem chemicals in such a sensitive
habitat. This does not appear to be the
case since the birds killed this year are also being composted on the
Second, your staff should be worried if cormorants are carrying such dangerous pollutants in their bodies because it means that these chemicals are persistent in the environment.
Habitat disruption and non-native species introduction: As a result of the composting operation, a portion of the island’s habitat has been altered. A section of the island is covered by the composter and therefore the habitat underneath changed
The nutrient load of 30,000 pounds of composting dead cormorants would surely surpass the nutrient load of the water-bird colony guano, a concern cited by your Ministry in the management plan. Again, the effect of the composter is to change the nutrient equation.
As well, non-native grasses have been introduced to the island in the straw used in the composter.
The use of all-terrain vehicles to move equipment, materials and dead cormorants around the island causes additional habitat damage.
Cruelty: The 2004 cormorant management report describes the culling process for that year. The report says that shooting takes place on one part of the island for an hour, another part of the island for another hour throughout the day. The report continues to say that the dead birds are not collected until the end of the day to minimize the disruption to the three heron species. The same process was documented by our observers this year.
Not all birds shot are killed instantly. Some are mortally wounded and die in the water or on shore. Some are just wounded and have broken wings or similar damage that will lead to an inability to migrate, or to feed and to eventual slow death. Our observers saw wounded birds flying from their nests into the water where they died either from hemorrhaging or drowning. Our observers also witnessed Ministry staff collecting the dead and dying birds at the end of the day, both tossed into the bottom of the boat without regard to the most basic level of animal husbandry as required, for example, by the Canadian Council on Animal Care. As a scientific experiment under CCAC guidelines, this level of animal abuse would not be tolerated
The 2004 report fails to deal with the incredible
suffering experienced by the wounded birds who the Ministry leaves until all
the shooting is complete. Leaving birds
to suffer in this prolonged manner either shows a complete insensitivity to
their suffering or such a disrespect and loathing that forcing them to suffer
for many hours is acceptable. It is not
enough to kill these birds for the sake of a relatively small number of common
trees, they must be punished. These
actions which would not be supported by the public can no longer be hidden by
the Ministry.
Further the report fails to address how these birds are killed. Our assumption is that Ministry staff wring their necks, a procedure that the Ministry would not want documented on film
Two of our observers were veterinarians who were prepared to assist any wounded birds but could not go on shore without violating your Ministry’s prohibition. If they did go ashore, the result would be arrest for trying to ease or end an animal’s suffering.
In some cases wounded birds are not retrieved. The length of time between the shooting and attempts at retrieval, can allow for wounded birds to escape to the other islands. Eventually, these birds die and their bodies wash up on the park shore. Last year, park staff combed the park beaches early in the morning, collecting the bodies of those who washed ashore.
There are staff within your Ministry who disagree with your cormorant management strategy: We know from our contacts, that there are those within your Ministry who strongly disagree with your cormorant management strategy. We suspect that you have not heard the opposing opinion from those people. In fact, we know that they have specifically been told not to talk to us or the media about their opposition to the cull and other Ministry actions. It is time that you heard from them in re-evaluating your strategy.
We understand and appreciate the
intensity of the anti-cormorant lobby, particularly from the Ontario Federation
of Anglers and Hunters, but as knowledgeable staff within your Ministry well
know, there is truly no credible threat to the environment posed by cormorants
in
Your
Ministry has launched a province wide attack on the cormorant population: Cormorant populations across the province
are under attack from your Ministry and its decisions. Management techniques such as egg-oiling,
nest destruction, and harassment are being executed in three significant
colonies in
Additional
pressures are brought to bear on the population when hoodlums kill the chicks
and destroy the eggs on remote island colonies.
In a recent conference, it was revealed that raccoons were being
released on some of these islands to eat the eggs and the young. These actions and those threatened in the
We have
consistently asked Ministry staff, if cormorants are not welcome in a bird
sanctuary then where? We have yet to
receive a reply but it is a question you as the Minister should be asking. We suspect that with the exception of a few
stone outcroppings in the
Conclusion: Mr. Minister, you now have an alternative
evaluation of the cull on
We have video footage which calls into question claims made by your staff, including that there are now cormorants chicks in the nests where the Ministry is conducting the cull.
You have an opportunity to make a difference, to prevent further cruelty to the injured birds left by your staff and to prevent the slow and painful death of chicks whose parents have been shot.
Please end the cull now and review your management strategy with those who have witnessed the actions of your Ministry staff.
Sincerely,
Liz White
Director
Animal Alliance of Canada
Barry MacKay
Director, Canadian Representative
Animal Protection Institute