Monday, April 20, 2009

Alala is great!

Alala Akbar! Environmentalmidgets are at it again.
Did you know...?
Hawaiians call this bird "alala". We call them "crows". Alalas were once widespread on the island of Hawaii, but now survives only in captivity. Mainland crows can be found on treetops, electrical wires, buildings, lawns, parking lots, athletic fields, roadsides, towns, garbage dumps and fields across the continent.

So if one desired to see these black cawing devils back on Hawaii, the obvious solution would be to:
(A) For just a few bucks, send them a cargo hold full of ours on the next steamer... OR
(B)
HONOLULU – Federal wildlife officials say they plan to spend more than $14 million to prevent the extinction of the Hawaiian crow, one of the rarest forest birds in the world.

The endangered bird, known as the alala, is only found in captivity on the Big Island.

Two bird conservation centers are home to 56 alala. The bird hasn't been seen in the wild since 2002.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says its five-year plan to restore alala populations includes protection of habitats and management of threats to the species.
If you are an environmentalmidget, then the obvious answer is "B". While the Hawaiian crow and the American crow are virtually identical (except for the tiny and colorful flower leis around the alala's neck), no amount of money should be spared (or printed) in trying to reinsert this bird. Elderly Hawaiians wax nostalgic about the good old days when the alala were so prolific, they were actually ignored and even thought of as nuisances (Just like mainlanders do now).

Oh, and by "threats to the species", they must mean "climate change". Certainly there couldn't be any other reason these birds are no longer free in the wild.

Then again... wasn't this tried before in the 90s?:
Scientists also believe that the 'alala's natural enemy, the Hawaiian hawk, has killed many of the rare crows, especially in areas where ungulate grazing has reduced understory cover.

In the 1990s a program to remove eggs from wild 'alala nests and raise the chicks in captivity was accomplished by workers from the Peregrine Fund under contract to the Fish and Wild Service.

Sixteen birds from that program were released into the wild, but the hawks killed five, and the rest died from other causes. Releases were halted in 1999 because experts feared too many deaths would deplete the bird's genetic diversity.


Did you know...?
that a group of crows is called a "murder"? The Hawaiian Hawks say, "cawl it what you want, just don't cawwwwl us late for dinner"!

Gotta love the greenie weenies! They'll spend weeks cleaning oil off a seal only to have their release party spoiled by the hungry Orca offshore.

6 comments:

  1. They'll spend weeks cleaning oil off a seal only to have their release party spoiled by the hungry Orca offshore.LMAO

    This is "natural" though.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Speaking of the greenie weenies did you see the huge article in Sunday's paper about what you can do to save the environment? It was full of stupid suggestions on what people can do to reduce their carbon footprint such as avoid drive thrus, walk to the restaurant, don't let your car idle etc.. It took all of my willpower not to call the paper and cancel my subscription. I would have told the customer rep., when asked the reason I was quiting, "Your article made me stop and think about the number of trees cut down, the poison gases released into the air by trucks and cars delivering the newspaper. I just can't do this to mother earth anymore"!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I'll be on my way to Hawaii later today. I'll let you know if I see any alala.

    Alala Akbar!

    ReplyDelete
  4. These eco-nuts are going to be the death of our country. You can't run a government based on emotion and agenda-based drivel.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Chuck- speaking of "natural", erf day is this week!
    Pic Pic- You're killin' me here! The good folks still at the local newspaper want to thank you for resisting your urge and would remind you they will soon be saving 4 out of 7 trees each week. AND John Tomlinson. Give credit where it is due!
    RK- Now YOU'RE killing me. Aloha and hang loose! My 23rd anniversary is coming up this week. Remind me to tell you about the Hawaiian honeymoon. No, not THAT part. The Chernoybl and tsunami part.
    cube- You polar bear hater! :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. Hey, I don't hate polar bears. I think they're very tasty.

    ReplyDelete