Posted on 06/12/2010 9:58:12 AM PDT by JoeProBono
Since late last week a flood of pictures of oil-coated Gulf of Mexico birds—and conservationists painstakingly cleaning them—has added new emotional impact to the BP oil spill.
Some experts—citing traditionally low survival rates for rescued birds—are controversially arguing it would be better to immediately and humanely kill the suffering birds.
In a Spiegel Online article last month, German biologist Silvia Gaus argued that workers helping birds caught in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, should "kill, not clean." Gaus said studies show that more than 99 percent of rehabilitated birds will die anyway as a result of oil exposure, mainly due to kidney and liver damage caused by oil ingestion.
Each oil spill is different, however, and survival rates often depend on factors such as climate and species, according to Nils Warnock, a wildlife specialist with the Oiled Wildlife Care Network at the University of California, Davis.
No one knows what the survival rate will be for the Gulf species affected by the oil spill. But, Warnock said, "I don't believe that all these birds that are being rehabilitated for the Deepwater Horizon spill will end up dying."
He added that Gaus's statistics are related to past North Sea oil spills, where birds are more prone to freezing after oil has compromised their natural waterproofing.
Conducted in the 1980s and 1990s, the studies also represent an "old paradigm" of bird rehabilitation, Warnock said. More recent work contradicts their conclusions of poor survival rates, he added.
For instance, a January 2009 study published in the African Journal of Marine Science said that only 27 percent of oil-rescued penguins had been unable to breed following their release—a relatively low rate.
And other recent studies found that, in the United States, 40 to 60 percent of some species of rehabilitated birds had survived after release, thanks to improved treatment, according to Roger Helm, chief of environmental quality for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS).
Over the years, rehabilitators have learned—mostly from trial and error—how better to care for injured birds, which is particularly important for rare species, Helm added.
But biologist J.V. Remsen is skeptical of the higher survival rates, at least in the context of the Gulf oil spill. That's because the birds may have ingested toxic oil before they ever reach a rescue center.
"If the rehabbers can convince me that 25-50 percent are going to be successfully cleaned and released back into the environment and not die subsequently and painfully from the oil they have ingested, then OK, let's give it a try," said Remsen, ornithologist and professor at the Louisiana State Department of Biological Sciences in Baton Rouge....
I want my $2.00!
ObamaCare death panels for birds.
PR value is through the roof.
A well thought out idea. It will save us a few bucks off of the White House food budget too. A win-win.
Ridiculous. Just bury the damn things and cleanup the Gulf.
I really can’t make a comment on this until I hear from Daryl Hannah. Darylllll, Darylllll. Where are you Darylllll?
The world is waiting for your ‘expertise” on this matter.
What do they do with the “rescued” birds and turtles? Releasing them back would seem to be stupid...but then we are dealing with enviro-symps here.
If not sent back to the same mess, where are they being relocated to? Or stored?
I’ve searched several sites and emailed some, but no answer.
there are no words. This is just so sad. It could have been prevented and that’s the sad part and the part that is on Obama’s shoulders to bear.
This time the birds, next time "us"
I was wondering the same thing. I feel badly for them, but I think they should be put down.
The rescue programs typically nurse them back to health and then release them.
Leave it to the Germans to look for the benefits of euthanization.
Oh, no...if we're gonna have celebrity assessments on this, I insist that Whoopi-ki-yi-yay Goldberg, Rosie Odognuts, FatAss Oprah and Joyless Behar be consulted.
They are the only experts that America needs, from what constitutes rape to how hot a fire must be to melt steel, and God knows what else.
Surely they can determine if a bird will live after being soaked in oil.
Maybe some can be saved, but when you see those pictures its obvious that bird isnt going to make it.
What they need to be doing is rounding up all healthy fowl and fish crab shrimp and oyster turtle etc to later reintroduce back into the ecosystem IMO.
Cue whistle theme song from the “The Birds” movie.
You are right.
It is really bad when we hear more about the ‘poor birds and sea -life’ than we do about the families who lost their loved ones.
Oh I think the families have been kicked to the curb on this. There should have been more attention and support shown them by our leaders. That’s OK though...they are tough people and dealt with it in their own way. The whole treatment of this disaster by this president has been deplorable not to mention downright shameful.
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