justnorth posted on November 15, 2007 07:29 :: 2061 Views
The Department of Natural Resources is seeking information on the illegal release of three domestic pigs on Snake Island, located in northern Lake Michigan. The 5.14-acre Snake Island is an important site for colony-nesting waterbirds, including one of the largest colonies of ring-billed gulls in the Great Lakes.
"We suspect the pigs were released on the island by an individual who was trying to destroy double-crested cormorant nests and eggs," said Sgt. Darryl Shann, DNR law enforcement supervisor in Escanaba. "What people need to understand is an action like this is not only harmful to our native birds but also illegal."
The Great Lakes region has seen a dramatic increase in cormorant populations during the past 10 years and anglers have concerns over potential impacts on the sport fishery. In response to these concerns, the U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services has initiated cormorant control at several sites by using egg-oiling and regulated shooting of adults. In egg-oiling, Wildlife Services personnel coat cormorant eggs with vegetable oil limiting the hatching of eggs. The oil kills developing embryos, but adult cormorants continue to incubate the nonviable eggs instead of renesting.
"The release of domestic pigs at cormorant nesting colonies may actually be counterproductive to cormorant control efforts," said Karen Cleveland, DNR bird biologist. "Pigs will destroy eggs and young birds, but this may prompt cormorants to renest on the same island or just move to another island and renest."
The release of pigs on offshore islands can have additional negative impacts including disruption of other colony-nesting birds and destruction of ground plants. Two domestic pigs were removed from Snake Island earlier this summer by Wildlife Services personnel, but a third pig recently has been sighted.
If you have any information about the release of pigs on Snake Island, or elsewhere in the state, please call the Report All Poaching (RAP) hotline at (800) 292-7800 or contact your local DNR office.
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