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Small Carnivores Can Vary Very Much in Size and Weight from a Tiny Weasel (Mustela Nivalis) (Min

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Small Carnivores Can Vary Very Much in Size and Weight from a Tiny Weasel (Mustela Nivalis) (Min r ' r j t Vî '{/I 1 . I ■ ■ ISSN 0250-7072 COUNCIL w CONSEIL OF EUROPE * ★ * DE L’EUROPE Naturopa 0 0 No. 45 - 1983 'A X ir e u ro p e a n information Editorial P. Hardy 3 c e n tre (Photo W. Lapinski) for Who are these animals? E. Puiiiainen 4 n a tu re Struggle for life E.Zim en 7 conservation Legislation P. Dollinger 10 The genet M. Delibes 13 oisoned, snared, trapped, clubbed and Countryside Act of 1981 consol­attractive animal, a creature which re­ or shot, the small predatory mam­ idated that measure and provided veals such a beautiful fluidity of move­ P mals of Europe have a poor timegreater sanction against offence. This ment, a unique “ring upon bright water’’. was necessary for road traffic alone The otter, symbol of our threatened of it. Fortunately some television films have is a critical influence upon badger fauna S. McdonaldandN. Duplaix 14 A common argument used to justify aroused awareness and offer oppor­ survival. Persecution adds surfeit to their destruction is that without such tunity for observation which would other­ destruction. control their numbers would rise to such wise be an experience denied. But what A special case a w.M cdonald 20 levels as to seriously harm human But law alone cannot suffice. In a rural do we see when there is nothing left to interest. Yet increasingly naturalists are situation each weasel may not be film? aware that left alone predator popula­watched, each stoat supervised, a police The Arctic fox P. Hersteinsson 22 Observation of such creatures requires tions are almost self-regulating. Man’s officer cannot guard every fox’s earth. either good fortune or the exercise of hatreds are scarcely relevant and given In fact more protection may be afforded considerable wit for the four-legged Predator-prey s.Eriinge 24 the scale of environmental change in by enlightenment than by the schedules hunters have to be furtive to survive. Europe the pressure upon the predators of law—important though these are. Symbol for the Council of Europe's nature But if man has to use subtlety to observe conservation activities. may have reached eradicating propor­ Trapped, gassed, poisoned... p. Pfeffer 27 Enlightenment is urgently required for so he has to destroy. That intelligence tions. without it the decline of many species should be used for such a purpose Yet persecution continues—often ways in will be maintained to the point of their seems a contradiction. There we have Can they adapt? R .M .L ib o is 29 which are almost as obscenely barbaric national or regional disappearance. a rather modern paradox. as those used to end the life of the big There is another. Naturopa is published in English, French, cats so that their unmarked furs may German and Italian by the European adorn the backs of rich ladies. In many of our countries we have just Information Centre for Nature Conserva­ begun to see greater admiration of the tion of the Council of Europe, BP 431 R6, But our smaller European predators falcon's beauty, have begun to watch F-67006 Strasbourg Cedex. are an essential part of the pattern of with respect the ascent of the eagle or Editor responsible: Hayo H. Hoekstra our nature. They are themselves a con­ the dash of the hawk. With necessary trol upon the rodentiae, an alternative, Conception and editing: controls upon agriculture’s organo- Annick Pachod perhaps, to the poisons which we chlorides the raptor’s egg-shells may rather recklessly ply upon our eco­ Adviser for this issue: have returned to a thickness which systems. Their removal might well be French Society for the Study assists their prospect of survival. For and Protection of Mammals (SFEPM) not only a matter for aesthetic regret that we can be a little relieved. but of economic disadvantage. And we Printed by: Georges Thone, Let us protect should realise that whilst our landscape Yet the killer birds serve the same role Liège (Belgium) is impoverished in visual quality for our as the mammalian predators which yet Repros: Gam Gratic, do not enjoy the same improvement in Herstal (Belgium) own eyes this means habitat for preda­ tors is entirely removed. regard. Articles may be freely reprinted but it The swoop from the air may be no more would be appreciated if reference is urry, beautiful, but seldom seen of rabies, which is a current subject for The fox is regarded as a threat to made to the source and a copy sent to the noble than the pounce from an earth- —Europe’s small predatory mam­ debate. However, this world is also poultry yet most European foxes will Centre. The copyright of all photographs never have tasted domestic chicken. bound stillness. Both deal in the death is reserved. Fmals have not always enjoyed a theirs and they too have the right to nature’s design requires. Poultry is kept increasingly in intensely The opinions expressed in this publica­ favourable status. As competitors, they live in it. managed security. Yet the hunt con­ But the most ruthless of nature’s mur­ tion are those of the authors and do not were usually swiftly dealt with and only a few naturalists raised a voice in their tinues perhaps in order to maximise the derers is man and the instruments he necessarily reflect the views of the This issue of Naturopa is published on Council of Europe. defence. yield of game. But the vixen shot whilst has now devised allow him to eradicate the occasion of the Third International carrying mice to her cubs no longer neighbour species, even those of value Colloquy on the Otter, which was held This is slowly changing. A world-wide contributes unwittingly to making theIn many Council of Europe states onlyand of beauty. in the Palais de l’Europe in Strasbourg campaign to save the great cats laid the agricultural economy just a little more three or four small predator species in November 1983. That value and beauty need urgent groundwork for better appreciation of robust. are likely to be widely established. Others may have gone or become ex­ recognition. Our own sensitivity and predators in general and in Europe, In Britain it was lawful until 1973 to dig ceedingly rare as creatures retreat to perhaps our own eventual comfort sug­ Front cover: Lutralutra (Photo W. Laplnski) campaigns by nature-lovers brought the “The Water’s Edge" campaign will be out the badger’s sett, to haul him out their wilder fastnesses before the de­ gest that there should be tolerance. Back cover: (Photo G. Lacoumette) wild cats, foxes, badgers, otters, stoats, highlighted at the Fourth European with special tongs and then to torment mands of man. A tolerance of other species which share Captions to colour illustrations p. 16-17 : ermines, weasels, etc. almost to the Ministerial Conference on the Environ­ him for so-called sport. We had abolish­ our' continent including those killers 1. Gulo gulo (Photo C. Nardln-Jacana) front pages. As predators they may come ment, to be held in Athens at the end of ed dog—and cock-fighting and bear- Destruction of habitat, pollution, dis­which are smaller than ourselves. 2. Lynx lynx (Photo Labat-Jacana) into direct conflict with man—young roe­ April 1984. Thus N aturopa’s next issue baiting over a century before. I take turbance and persecution have brought 3. Ursus arctos (Photo J.-P. Varin-Jacana) deer, fish, song-birds and eggs are 4. Canis lupus (Photo Ziesler-Jacana) will encourage better appreciation of some pride in having steered the 1973 our otter population to a level which Peter Hardy, M.P. among their prey, and man does not that vulnerable and rich habitat: where Badgers Act through the Commons and means that less than one person in aChairman, Council of Europe always like this. There is also the problem water and land meet. H.H.H. I was further relieved when the Wildlife thousand will ever see at first-hand this Sub-Committee on the Natural Environment nly one of the small predatory mammals belonging to the rich Who are these animals? Erkki Pulliainen OVillafranchium fauna which in­ habited Europe before the Ice Age, namely the badger ( Meies meles), has survived the past 2-3 million years. Martes martes moving house (Photo W. Lapinski) This species has been enough of a “generalist" in its living demands and habits (e.g. overwintering in dormancy) to tolerate the considerable climatic changes which have taken place here during the period in question. What, then, are these “small predatory mammals”? Since we do not speak about “medium-sized” carnivores, we can in­ clude in this non-systematic group all those carnivores which are not called Nyctereutes procyonoides, a newcomer (Photo W. Lapinski). “great predators", a group which in­ cludes the wolf (Canis lupus), the bear (Ursus arctos), the wolverine (Gulo gulo) and the two lynx species (Lynx lynx and L. pardina). Defined in this way, small carnivores can vary very much in size and weight from a tiny weasel (Mustela nivalis) (min. weight 24 g) to a fat badger weighing more than 20 kg. nutrition that increases in their popula­ Predator-prey relationships Variety of species tions are usually connected with mass occurrences of small rodents. When Many of the small carnivore species The ten European mustelid species in­ small rodent populations are low, or such are useful from the standpoint of clude one which has been introduced, mammals are absent from a particular human economy in killing small rodents namely the American mink ( Mustela area, these small carnivores may also in considerable numbers.
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