But while he was in the Chagos, he did find himself in a sort of natural experiment that gave him some insight into the effect of the crabs
on local bird populations.
With feral cats, for example, I find it hard to justify trap - neuter - release programs when the sterilized cats remain free to
ravage local bird populations.
Mr. Stevenson appoints himself the official guardian of
the local bird population, arms himself with a deadly weapon and kills an animal on public property.
Sorry to say I haven't yet seen one in reality, but the thought of them rising in polluted cities across the industrialized world and actually making it easier to breathe — while assisting
the local bird populations — does help to sustain me.
Now the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds has issued a formal objection to the plans on the grounds that
local bird populations could be hurt: Several EU Protected Species Could Be Disturbed From the RSPB statement:
Compare the results from former years and you'll become experts on
your local bird population and migration habits.