A group of cormorants has abused Swiss hospitality by eating too many fish, forcing authorities to approve measures aimed at kicking out the unwanted migrants.
The coastal natives used to come to Switzerland on a sporadic basis to escape harsher winters further north, but since 2001, some 260 cormorant couples have nested on two islands on western Switzerland’s Lake Neuchatel.
While their permanent residence at the country’s biggest natural bird reserve had been greeted with enthusiasm by bird-lovers, their appetite for fish from the lake has browned off some fishermen in the region.
“The cormorant is a bird which does not go unobserved. It nests in colonies, fish often in groups and gather where they sleep,” said the Office for the Environment on its Web site.
“Opportunistic, it fishes where the fish are visible and easy to catch,” added the office, underlining that “on the lakes, the groups of cormorants are competing with professional fishermen.”
A report in 2008 found that regular fishermen at the lake lost up to 210,000 Swiss francs (NT$8.9 million) in revenue a year.
To control the population of cormorants, local authorities can now close off access to part of the lake’s shoreline, and “remove the residual nests from the previous season.”
“They can also coat the already laid eggs with oil to stop them from maturing,” said the ministry, adding that the measures are taken on a trial basis and should be applied only until the end of 2011.
Bird enthusiasts were dismayed by the move.
Francois Turrian from BirdLife Switzerland told AFP that the “witchhunt in the middle of a natural reserve, especially in spring — the reproduction period” was regrettable.
He called instead for compensation for the fishermen.
(AFP)
瑞士「好心被雷親」！一群鸕鶿捕食過多魚兒，迫使有關當局採取措施，驅離這些不速之客。
這群主要生活在沿海地帶的北方嬌客，以往都三三兩兩南遷到瑞士避寒，但自二００一年以來，已有約兩百六十對鸕鶿在西部納沙泰爾湖的兩座島上建立家園。
愛鳥人士熱情歡迎牠們在該國最大的自然野鳥保護區內永久定居，不過牠們大量捕食湖中的魚，讓當地部分漁民頗有微詞。
環境總署在其官方網站中表示：「隨處可見的鸕鶿有集體棲息和覓食的習性，就連睡覺也在一起。」
環境總署還特別強調，「鸕鶿是投機取巧的動物，牠們喜歡在魚兒清楚可見又容易捕捉的地方抓魚。湖面上，一群群鸕鶿正和專業漁夫展開競捕」。
二００八年一份報告發現，該湖區的正規漁民年收入損失高達二十一萬瑞士法郎（新台幣八百九十萬元）。
為了控制鸕鶿的數量，當地有關單位現在封鎖了湖區部分海岸線，並「清除上個遷徙季所遺留的鳥巢」。
該部門表示：「他們也可在已產下的鳥蛋表面塗油，防止其孵化。」還說這些試行措施應該只會執行到二０一一年底。
這項行動令愛鳥人士錯愕不已。
「瑞士國際鳥盟」的弗朗索•圖里安向法新社表示，他對「自然保護區內這種針對春季繁殖期進行的迫害行動」深感遺憾。
他呼籲當局改採補償漁民的方式。（法新社╱翻譯：林倩如）
Picture a 45-foot-long animal with a 5-foot-long skull and 3-foot-long arms. It may not seem strange until you realize that a human with those proportions would be 6 feet tall with 5-inch arms. Although the Tyrannosaurus rex went extinct 65 million years ago, the mystery of its unusual body __1__ has fascinated scientists for over a century. Barnum Brown, the paleontologist who first discovered T. rex fossils, initially found it hard to believe that the tiny arms belonged to such a __2__ creature. One of his colleagues speculated that the short forelimbs might have been used to hold the
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Photographer Franziska Stuenkel likes to take spontaneous urban shots, so she needs a nimble camera that is ready to go when inspiration strikes: her German-made Leica M11. “I have to be very quick and discreet,” said the Berlin-based artist who captures reflections of people walking past windows, their contours merging with the shapes behind the glass. Stuenkel’s compact Leica is the perfect camera for the job, the 51-year-old told AFP. Famous for its pocket-sized and retro-style devices, the Leica brand is celebrating a milestone as it marks 100 years since its first commercial camera was presented to the public. The
Dogs’ noses are incredibly keen. They can even detect changes in cortisol levels in human sweat and breath. Known as the “stress hormone,” cortisol increases when humans are under pressure. Recent research indicates that the smell of human stress can influence a dog’s behavior and emotions. In the study, human volunteers were exposed to the stressful tasks of preparing and delivering a speech on the spot and then solving math problems. __1__ Researchers collected sweat and breath samples from the volunteers on pieces of cloth during both their stressful and restful states. Meanwhile, other researchers worked with 18
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