Owls, like many groups of birds around the world today, face a number of
threats and new challenges to their survival. Habitat loss and degradation
pose the most serious threats to the survival of the owl species.
Despite
this, however, comparitively few species of owls with the exception of the
Spotted Owl are in grave danger.
Spotted Owl (Strix occidentalis).
Amongst conservationist and logging circles, the Spotted Owl (Strix occid-
entalis) is a byword for controversy. It has come to symbolise the fight
against clear-cut commercial logging of old-growth forests in America's
Pacific north-west, a habitat upon which this species is entirely dependent.
Spotted Owls are now very rare and entirely protected by law. The greatest
damage to the species may, however, already have been done since so much
forest has all but disappeared. Spotted Owls seem reluctant to venture
across unsuitable habitats, so populations isolated in pockets of remaining
forest seem destined to lose contact with others of the same species from
elsewhere within their range.
As predators, owls are at the top of the food chain and a thorough knowledge
of them is vital to any understanding of environmental health. Recognising
this fact, many countries have carried out extensive research and are well
aware of the state of their owl populations. Sadly, the same cannot be said
in Australia where our knowledge of such things is virtually non-existent.
Perhaps the various Tyto species are doing very well, perhaps they are not.
In the present state of our knowledge there is no means of telling, but the
feeling is that there is cause for concern.
In the cane-growing districts of northern Queensland,the recent introduction
of a new anti-coagulant rat poison was quickly followed by the discovery of
numerous dead Grass and Masked Owls. Autopsies revealed haemorrhages typical
of this type of poisoning. This poison would appear to have a potential for
harm rivalling that of DDT, yet it is freely available with no control on
its sale.
With the forest owls, urgent research is needed to determine the effects of
clear-felling on owl populations. One such study is under way in New South
Wales but, in other States, any urgency seems to be confined to the felling
operations themselves. One State government has adopted the status of
"Minimum Viable Population". This American concept attempts to identify the
smallest population of a species that will be able to maintain its numbers
indefinitely. It is a theory that is both unproven and academic. However,
there is a grave risk that other governments will regard it as being both
measurable and desirable, giving official countenance to lowering a population to their very brink without even the scientific knowledge for recognising when that brink has been reached.
These are only two examples but they are reason enough to worry. An Australia without owls would be both a poorer place and a less healthy one.
We
owe it to future generations of Australians to do the work now so that this
will never happen.
Countless generations of people have revered and appreciated owls for their
beauty and elegance, as well as for their perceived wisdom and intelligence.
We must preserve the habitats necessary for owls and other wildlife to
survive.
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