Historic Document – Content May Not Reflect Current Scientific Research, Policies Or Practices
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U.S. Department of Agriculture Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service Wildlife Services Historic document – Content may not reflect current scientific research, policies or practices. LI'' . Cl ' .·• rI> . · ... - " . -{>-, .... ~ -· '! ,)"'FOREIGN GAME l.,b ,_ I C, INVESTIGATION ~- A Federal-·State Cooperative Program Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 111r 90018703111m1~1~ (D Barberry Sheep © Black Francolin (])Spotted Tinamou (D Fallow Deer (D Iranian Pheasant ©Crested Tinamou (D Blackbuck © Red Junglefowl 0 Kalij Pheasant A Federal-State CJooperative Program by Gardiner Bump U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR Fish and Wildlife Service BUREAU OF SPORT FISHERIES AND WILDLIFE Washington, D.C. 20240 Resource Publication No. 49 f'or KRle by the SuPt'rlntendent of Document1, U.S. Government P rinting Olllce, Waablngton, D.C. 20402 ·Price 1G cen t8 1011111190018703 Foreword First there was the land. Then there was life. Then there was complexity. Under one set of conditions, certain plants a nd animals prospered. When conditions changed these grew more or less abundant. Many disappeared, for this is a law of life. Man, once he became the dominant animal, altered the countryside to suit his needs. The alterations were often extreme. Wildlife reacted accordingly. Under new rnnditions some forms prospered. but many failed. Grouse and turkey disappeared, as forests and prairies became cultivated fields. Bobwhite forsook pastures that were heavily grazed, with no native game bird to take their place. But " the new" attracts ; man as well as Nature abhors a vacuum. Predictably, we have attempted to bring birds, mammals, and plants from far off corners of the world to fill our self-created emptiness. Industrialist Eugene Scheiffiin, loving Shake speare, vowed to introduce to the New World all birds mentioned in his plays. Judge 0. N. Denny, Consul-general in Shanghai, enjoyed pheasants afield and on the table. So he sent some to Or<'gon ; they flourished. In only a few years, more than a hundred birds new to America were hopefully liberated. Most introductions failed; few- such as starlings and English sparrow- pros pered mightily. Some successes made our life enjoyable, others proved nuisances. What one man praised another condemned, and trial and error were in vogue. After the Second World War, interest in "new" birds and mammals zoomed. Conservation-minded folks (Federal, State, and private) were alarmed. Out of that concern grew the Foreign Game Investigation Program, with responsibility for study ing and evaluating new birds and mammals. Were they needed? Might they fill a niche not already well occupied by native species? What would be the reaction of resident wildlife to newcomers? Would they leave agricultural crops alone? If suc cessful , would they provide more hunting or fishing? How could hitch-hiking diseases and parasites be discouraged? So ran the questions. So read the terms of reference for the new Program. Two-score years later, we look b ack to slow, careful but substantial progress. Program biologists have been stingy with passports to America for new species; appli cants ha\'e been carefully screened. I believe that our responsibility to our native wild life, to o ur sportsmen. and other lovers of nature is being ably discharged. After reading this report of foreign game investigations, I think you will believe it, too. J o HN GorrscHALK, Director Bureau of Sport Fisheries and Wildlife 'The FOREIGN GAME INVESTIGATION PROGRAM UST 1 o YEARS after the Declaration of Inde carried out by individuals or private organizations, J pendence, George Washington received this usually in a haphazard way. country's first shipment of foreign game birds-a The best example of a successful foreign game gift from the Marquis de Lafayette, consisting of bird introduction into this country is the ring several kinds of pheasants and a pair of French nccked pheasant. 0. N. Denny, while serving as red-legged partridges. Attempts to introduce foreign Consul-general at Shanghai, decided to bring Chi birds into the United States have been going on nese pheasants directly into Oregon. The first at ever since. tempt, in 1880, apparently ended in failure, so the Few foreign game bird or mammal introductions following year about 100 more pairs were released have been successful. In the past, failure has been in the Willamette Valley. Most of Oregon's present the rule rather than the exception. One of the most population of pheasants stems from these 200 birds. important reasons for this has been a lack of knowl Other States soon followed Oregon's example. The edge concerning just what type of climate and rink-necked pheasant is now one of the most popu conditions a new wildlife immigrant needs. lar game birds in the northern tier of States. Other reasons for these failures include releasing After noting the successful introduction of the foreign species in poor rnndition resulting from Chinese pheasant, many individuals and State con their long trip, and introducing too few individuals servation agencies became interested and started over too short a period. Most wild-trapped birds importation and propagation programs of their scatter as soon as they are released. Unless consid own. Failure was still the rule, for it was seldom erable numbers arc liberated on a continuing basis, recognized that birds, to be successful, must be the chance of pairs mating and nesting is remote. adaptable to the climate and habitat into which they arc released. Large numbers of game-farm Early Introductions-Success andFailure reared ring-necked pheasants were liberated in many places but became abundant in only 19 House sparrows, introduced in 1850 and blue rock Northern or Western States. pigeons and starlings in 1872 are classic examples More by accident than design, two other new of foreign introductions that were mistakes because comers thrived. Hungarian or gray partridges from they became too successful. While all three of these central Europe found conditions to their liking in species are considered nuisance birds, the starling the prairie Provinces of Canada and adjacent has become a serious economic threat. They spread States. Chukar partridges from India, introduced across the country invading croplands as they went, at one time or another into every State, established until now farmers on the west coast worry about themselves successfully only west of the Rockies. starling damage to such multimillion dollar crops The contribution of these three species to recrea as grape and holly. tional hunting is substantial. Currently they repre Nearly all early introductions of exotic birds were sent about 35 percent of all the nonmigratory, up- bnd game birds har\'ested annually by hunters. barnyard rooster, India's red junglefowl, is one pos After World II, interest in exotic game increased sibility for providing additional hunting for south so substantially that the International Association of ern sportsmen. Game, Fish, and Conservation Commissioners Although the pu1v iew of the Foreign Game In asked the Fish and Wildlife Service of the United vestig11tion Program includes mammals, program States Department of the Interior to accept the biologists have paid relatively little attention to responsibility for coordinating and organizing work foreign big game species since most native mammals of this type. The result was thr Foreign Game have fared much better under the pressures of ad Investigation Program. vancing c ivilization than have game birds. Another consideration is that large mammals that graze or browse might well come into direct competition for Why a Foreign Game Investigation food with our natural big game species, not to men Program is J\l..eeded tion domestic livestock such as cattle a~d sheep. At least 14 species of European, African, and To find out just why it is desirable to have a Asian big game mammals have already been suc program for bringing foreign game species into this cessfully introduced by private initiative, mainly country requires a close look at the numbers and in the Southwest. The axis, fallow, and Sitka deer, distribution of the native game animals. The land the black buck (an Indian antelope), the nilgai (a usc picture in the United States is constantly chang Sou th Asian antelope) , the Barbary sheep, and wild ing. So-called "clean fanning," new types of farm boar arc examples of such introductions. machinery, heavy grazing, and chemical control of Western ranchers arc increasingly interested in weeds and insects bring about changes that often establishing private hunting preserves where ~xotic harm native wildlife. For example, prairie chickens big game may be harvested on a fee basis by inter once thrived over a vast area of the North-Central ested hunters. Experience has already proven, how United States and south through Texas. Now the ever, that as stocks of foreign deer, antelope, and prairie chicken is confined to scattered areas in this sheep increase, domestic livestock must in turn be once great range. Overgrazing native grasslands, curtailed to maintain adequate food supplies. plowing of native sod to plant com and wheat, and The business of introducing new game animals to overhunting were all responsible for reducing the a country is hardly a do-it-yourself project. The distribltion of this fine game bird. obstacles confronting such a program arc many and It's obvious that the welfare of game birds and difficult. How can you be sure that the species mammals thriving under one set of conditions can brought in will not become a pest? Will they adapt be c ritically jeopardized when such conditions to their new home? What about diseases and para change. As a result, they may decrease or, in some sites that might be brought in? If they should be cases, vanish. When this happens, something is come established, what are the chances of their needed to fill the gap.