Monday, May 22, 2006

Gangs Raid Expensive Coastal Homes!




Unruly gangs have been raiding expensive homes in a coastal area in South Africa’s Cape Peninsula, taking food, sometimes ransacking the place and defecating on designer furniture.
It’s not the normal type of gangs doing this, it is baboon troops who make their home on this scenic, formerly undeveloped natural wonderland.
Now wealthy humans have begun building oceanfront communities here, about 30 minutes from Cape Town, a popular tourist destination.
The baboons have always gotten along peacefully with humans and previously mostly ignored them. Now a conflict is arising because of the new development and the intelligent baboons always on the lookout for new food sources.
The recent rash of alligator attacks in Florida and here locally a few reports of coyotes eating a few house pets on Padre Island are all part of the same problem, over development and the increasing amount of new building in formerly wild and pristine areas.
A letter to the editor in a small local bi-weekly newspaper complained about Padre Island coyotes eating “Fluffy.”
“No one told me there were coyotes here!” wrote the women, understandably upset about the loss of her pet but amazingly unaware of her surroundings!
There have been similar letters from folks who were stung by stingrays or jellyfish and Portuguese Men of War. They wondered why there were no signs warning of these creatures.
In these types of incidents it is almost always the animals that lose in the end. The invading humans usually destroy or force the animals out as they radically change the natural habitat.
A larger number of non-dangerous species are affected as well. Again another local example, the piping-plover is a small local coastal bird on the endangered species list and it is coming under increasing pressure as beach development continues unabated. The local politicians and developers behind this are scornful of protecting such creatures. A common sentiment is often expressed in a comment such as this; “How can we let a tiny bird that only weighs a few ounces stop our mega death development in its tracks?”
Links:
http://www.ostroyreport.blogspot.com/#111505A%20/
http://libpolrel.blogspot.com/http://libpolrel.blogspot.com/
http://fuzzyandblue.blogspot.com/
http://orwellsgrave.blogspot.com/
http://jcdesigns.blogspot.com/

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