The journey is one of several dozen “spectacular migrations" — in the air and on land — that are chronicled in a new report by the Wildlife Conservation Society. But the report warns that these migrations are in peril.
“Long-distance migrations as a whole are rapidly disappearing," said an author of the report, Keith Aune, a senior conservation scientist here in Montana for the wildlife group, which is based at the Bronx Zoo in New York.
The report surveyed wildlife biologists across the Western United States, where most of the large-scale migrations still take place. It details 24 terrestrial and 17 aerial migrations; a later report will take up ocean migrations. There are many more imperiled migrations, Mr. Aune said, but these are both the most important and the most likely to survive if they receive public support.
Long-distance migrations are not only a spectacle, he said; they are crucial to keeping wildlife species extant in a changing world. “They are about survival," he continued. “When we block migrations, we lose the ability to sustain a population."
It has happened all too often, he said, citing the vast migrations of bison across the Great Plains in the 19th and early 20th centuries. While there are still bison, they are largely limited to a few reserves, like Yellowstone National Park. Read the full report here.
Source: by Jim Robbins, The New York Times, Helena, Mont.
