Return of a snake to Wales and how should conservation be done.

[Montero]

Britain has a new snake species – should climate change mean it is allowed to stay?

This species could be the poster child for conservation on a warming planet.

theconversation.com

 

[Dave]

Should successfully established, innocuous immigrants be proscribed and potentially eradicated, as is currently the case? Or should they be valued and conserved in the face of current and impending climate change?

That statement is the crux of the problem. I don't think anyone really knows enough ecology to be sure in their predictions of what the outcome might be, nor do we even know how bad climate change will get. So, it's all a big experiment, whether that is Beavers, Pine Martins, Wild Cats or Lynx.

There are certainly Non-Native Invasive Species that have proved very damaging to native flora and fauna - Green crabs, Sea Walnuts, Lionfish, Pacific oysters, Asian hornets, Cane toads, Cherry Laurel, Japanese Knotweed and Himalayan Balsam - and there are others - Red-Necked Wallabies, Grey Squirrels, Ring-Necked Parakeets - that outcompete native species but one could say that they were relatively harmless and increase our biodiversity??? So, who determines what is "innocuous" and what must be "eradicated"? Would this snake outcompete the, already under pressure, native Adder? And once introduced, can we ever completely eradicate these species if they are super successful? What exactly is a "native species" anyhow, if the species was common a few thousand years ago? And we have a national shortage of trained ecologists, with many local authorities employing few, if any, and no national training programme, so who is going to monitor this?

There is still a law on the statute to shoot Grey Squirrels on sight. I don't own a gun, but good luck with that around here!

 

[Brian G Turner]

I would have thought it better to focus on native species. They are usually a unique gene pool that is irreplaceable if lost.

In the example from the article, it doesn't mention at all how other snakes in the area may or not be faring, or whether the invasive snake is competing with them - which could otherwise cause a disadvantage for the native fauna.

Really the piece doesn't really come across as one about conservation, as much as someone with a special interest in an invasive species looking to justify a continued interest in it.

 

[Montero]

There is still a law on the statute to shoot Grey Squirrels on sight. I don't own a gun, but good luck with that around here!

As in good luck trying to shoot them because?
Too many?
People would get upset?
Really bad idea to start shooting in London?

 

[Dave]

As in good luck trying to shoot them because?
Too many?
People would get upset?
Really bad idea to start shooting in London?

All of the above...

I'm not sure now about the wording of that old law and I cannot find it (It might be hearsay.) The current status of Grey Squirrels in UK Law is that you can shoot them as a pest (with permission of the landowner), or trap them, but once trapped, it is illegal to transport them and release them elsewhere. Similar case with Mink. Red Squirrels are protected and cannot be harmed.

 

[Parson]

What complicates this further is that while there is no such thing as a truly zero sum game. You always have tradeoffs. If you do this than that's "somewhat" bad for this group of animals and if you do this it is "somewhat" good for this group of animals. And the balance is likely never understood very well at all.

The underlying assumption of the article is that we have caused climate change and therefore we should be doing what we can to mitigate the results of it on animals. And on some level that makes sense, but at what cause to others? I'm not sure this is a question that we have the ability to answer and on the whole I would feel that it's best to let the evolutionary process handle things. The more adaptable the creature is the more viable it is.

 

[Dave]

I would feel that it's best to let the evolutionary process handle things. The more adaptable the creature is the more viable it is.

That is a position that I have great sympathy with, but if I read it correctly, the point being made in the article is that Climate Change is happening so fast that species will be unable to cross natural barriers such as the English Channel without help. There have been no snakes on the island of Ireland since the last Ice Age for the same reason (or was it because Saint Patrick made them all leave?) And there are almost no Wildernesses left on Earth; nowhere left that has a landscape or habitat that isn't maintained or altered by Man is some way. In the UK every habitat or landscape that people think is natural, is actually a result of some kind of management by man, either at present, or at some historical time.