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Originally Posted by Chas  I have to say that this kind of over sentimental attitude towards wildlife is part of the problem. You don't make a valid argument and to compare humans with parakeets is frankly a bit weird. It is man that allowed them to escape so yes we are to blame. They are here because of mans carelessness and stupidity and we should rectify the situation before it is totally out of hand. Do you not realise how much damage a flock of say 10,000 of these birds, as large as a wood pigeon with massive beaks that can chew through anything, could do. They are already competing with all our native species of birds for food and nest sites and to say you know they shouldnt be here but they are so "tough" is crazy. They have been "given a chance" and you "cant wait to see one", well go to a pet shop or zoo, they are full of them as well. Incidentally it is illegal to release any non native species to the wild so there is the argument for culling. I appreciate that everyone is entitled to an opinion but please don't base it on over sentimentality just because they are attractive to the eye. |
Despite 30,000 of them in London there's still no evidence they are having an adverse effect on native species + I've been directly involved in a bird monitoring project for some years in west London where there's many of these birds with no decrase in any of the other hole nesters, some of which have also increased over the time period.
London is hardly a pristine environment- a large number of the species of flora are not native + many of the fauna constituents are not native either + most species do not appear to cause problems, it's only a tiny minority that do. Urban ecology is a fascinating subject + it's a naive assumption native=good, alien= bad; the situation is more complex than that.
We have to remember our wildlife is dynamic with new species arriving, quite often without man's assistance + becoming part of our natural heritage.