Eagle Drama: How a flagship wildlife species become a red flag
Please note: The opinions and commentary expressed in this blog post are my own, and are not intended to represent the views and policies of the Norfolk Botanical Garden Society or any affiliated organizations.
Before I can even finish saying "There's a bald eagle!" people on my tour boat jump up and practically tip the pontoon over as they scramble to get a look at the majestic bird. The Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Virginia is situated in an ideal location to view birds and wildlife of all sorts. Not only is it the largest single green-space in a densely urban port town, but it is also surrounded by lakes, tidal estuaries, wetlands, and lush maritime forest. A canal winds through the 155 acre garden, going past fragrant roses, exotic fan palms, and brightly colored flowering trees. The canal connects the garden to a 700 acre freshwater reservoir, and visitors to the garden can take pontoon boat tours that go out onto this wildlife-abundant lake.
For many years, a nesting pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) had situated themselves on a tall pine tree in the middle of the botanical garden. The easy viewing location combined with the fact that the Norfolk Botanical Garden placed a webcam by their nest made these charismatic eagle pairs very popular among people across the country, and the webcam itself became one the most visited wildlife webcams in the world.
The excitement over our national bird nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden culminated into a whole festival dedicated to the eagles known as the Eagle Festival, as well as numerous gift shop items for sale, programs about the eagles, and even a web page solely dedicated to the paired eagles cleverly named "Azalea" and Camellia." A local news station even provided access to the live cam, and visitors could donate to the Eagle Fund, which was sponsored by large financial corporations. People from all over the country - and even all over the world, flocked to the Norfolk Botanical Garden in hopes of catching a glimpse of these fearsome raptors.
Bald eagles in general typically nest on large trees within a few miles of open water, and the naturalized habitat of the botanical garden in proximity to the reservoir made for excellent eagle habitat - with one exception. The Norfolk Botanical Garden is located right next door to the Norfolk International Airport, and in April 2011, a plane struck the female bald eagle and killed her (Norfolk Botanical Garden, 2013).
This had come only a few years after another eagle succumbed to an airplane collision in 2009, and this caused concern from the Norfolk airport's director, who notified the FAA of the eagle incidents (Nolin, 2013).
The airport director's concern eventually led to the USDA's mandate that the bald eagle's nest should be periodically removed prior to egg-laying in order to discourage the eagles from nesting in the garden. Their rationale was based upon the habits and flight patterns of eagles, which fly erratically from land-covered areas to open water (Nolin, 2013).
The decision to evict the eagles from nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden led to enormous outcry from local residents and visitors, many who had been tracking the eagles nesting habits via the Eagle Cam for many years. This eventually led to a city-councilman supported citizens group, who call themselves the Eagle on Alliance, dedicated to ensuring that the eagles are "safe from any harm," (2013). In consequence, a common problem experienced by professionals in the wildlife conservation outreach discipline took place: the anthropomorphism, or the assignment of human traits and characteristics, to wild animals. Figure 1 shows the "eagle shrine" at the base of the eagle nesting tree, where eagle enthusiasts leave gift and notes expressing their grief over the undesired removal of their nest.
Whether or not the city of Norfolk, the USDA, and the FAA were right in their decision to remove the eagle's nest, or whether it was in fact a foolish and unethical procedure, is an opinion that I leave other people to express. Rather than focusing my criticism on the federal government or the city of Norfolk, I choose instead to "point the finger" at the middleman of this conflict: The Norfolk Botanical Garden Society (NBGS). I point my finger at them though, not with cold malevolence, but with a warm hope that they might take steps in the future to advance the conservation and preservation of our natural resources through sound scientific reasoning.
In wildlife conservation, it is common to use charismatic animals, such as the endangered panda bear or a leopard, as a flagship species. These attention-grabbing endangered resources play quickly into the hearts and minds of ordinary individuals, who are more likely to donate money to conservation groups who lobby for the protection of endangered wildlife species and their habitat.
Shortly after the incident with the eagles, and in response to the management plan for removing the eagle's nest, emotions swarmed among good-intentioned citizens. The NBGS as the middleman had an opportunity to channel this energy and enthusiasm for the eagles towards a broader conservation movement encompassing raptors and other wildlife in the Tidewater area of Virginia.
On the eagle web page of the Norfolk Botanical Garden website, it states that by "making a donation to our Eagle Fund you can help us celebrate the eagle family contribution to environmental education. Our Eagle Fund supports eagle programs and will help us to maintain the new eagle plaza." It then directs visitors to the contact information for Cathy Fitzgerald, the Director of Donor Relations.
Notice that the statement specifically refers to donations helping to maintain a new eagle plaza, with vague illusions to "eagle programs." Essentially, instead of taking the time to educate people about wildlife issues, and instead of using the funds to further protect eagles and other wildlife, they decided to capitalize on the nesting eagles, drawing on their charisma and eventually from the subsequent drama of their demise.
The aggressive revenue-centric capital campaigns on behalf of the NBGS regarding the eagles, and the naive outcry of emotions from local civic groups like the Eagle on Alliance has resulted in wasted time and energy as well as the squandering of valuable monetary resources that could have otherwise benefited the wildlife conservation movement in the Tidewater area.
On my boat tours, guests would anxiously ask me if the eagles were ever going to come back, and if we were still removing the nest. "So did you guys get rid of the eagles, then?" asks one annoyed middle-aged man. I would also speak with visitors who traveled hundreds of miles just to come and see the eagles, even though many of then had plenty of nesting eagles in their home states and within easy viewing range (albeit without a webcam).
Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2010). Figure 2 shows a map of known bald eagle nest locations in 2010 in Virginia, as determined by the Center for Conservation Biology (2013). A glance at the Chesapeake Bay region quickly shows that eagles nests are abundant, and that bald eagles are now far from endangered in the area. Essentially, all people really need to do to see bald eagles in the wild around Virginia is to step out of their houses and visit one of the numerous parks and public water access points.
The map in Figure 2 should lead one to conclude that, whether truly based upon sound science or not, the decision to evict the eagles from nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden will have little (if any) impact on the success of bald eagles across Virginia (and across the whole country for that matter).
Chances are though, the above statement will hardly satisfy eagle enthusiasts, or "Eagle People" as one of my coworkers phrased it. This is yet again another one of the limits of wildlife conservation in context of single-species conservation. By drawing so much attention to the eagles, the NBGS inadvertently dismissed the importance of other wildlife species in the area -albeit not as charming as bald eagles - including those that could be at risk of becoming endangered such as the numerous migratory birds that take refuge from Norfolk's urban landscape, or the diversity of amphibians whose populations are on a global decline.
Engaging people's emotions and reactions to the bald eagle drama could have helped the NBGS become a leader in wildlife conservation in Southeast Virginia. For example, there could have been fundraising campaigns for wildlife conservation efforts in the city of Norfolk. These fundraising efforts could have then been used for protecting more land for wildlife habitat - or some other motive that would have brought positive change to environmental conservation in the Tidewater area of Virginia with a more holistic and ecological approach to the problem. Instead, the money and energy was spent on an expensive memorial sculpture (the Eagle Memorial).
Over the next several years, the NBGS will face several issues as a result of their mismanagement of the ongoing "eagle soap opera". This is indicative of what I would argue is an element of Hampton Road's ecological nativity, which the NBGS has yet to address. Much like the child's game of "telephone", misinformation and rumors about the eagle management plan will likely continue for some time.
I propose that the NBGS consider these general ideas over the next several years:
References
Center for Conservation Biology. (2013, September 01). Status in Virginia: Historic bald eagle breeding population. Retrieved from http://www.ccbbirds.org/what-we-do/research/species-of-concern/virginia-eagles/status-in-virginia/
Eagle on Alliance. (2013). Eagle on alliance. Retrieved from http://www.eagleonalliance.org/
Nolin, J. (2013, January 21). Evicted norfolk eagle refuses to leave botanical garden. The Virginian Pilot. Retrieved from http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/evicted-norfolk-eagle-refuses-leave-botanical-garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden. (2013). Eagle nest history. Retrieved from http://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/eagle-nest-history/
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2010) Bald eagle recovered!. Retrieved 2013, September 06 from http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/
Before I can even finish saying "There's a bald eagle!" people on my tour boat jump up and practically tip the pontoon over as they scramble to get a look at the majestic bird. The Norfolk Botanical Garden in Norfolk, Virginia is situated in an ideal location to view birds and wildlife of all sorts. Not only is it the largest single green-space in a densely urban port town, but it is also surrounded by lakes, tidal estuaries, wetlands, and lush maritime forest. A canal winds through the 155 acre garden, going past fragrant roses, exotic fan palms, and brightly colored flowering trees. The canal connects the garden to a 700 acre freshwater reservoir, and visitors to the garden can take pontoon boat tours that go out onto this wildlife-abundant lake.
For many years, a nesting pair of bald eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) had situated themselves on a tall pine tree in the middle of the botanical garden. The easy viewing location combined with the fact that the Norfolk Botanical Garden placed a webcam by their nest made these charismatic eagle pairs very popular among people across the country, and the webcam itself became one the most visited wildlife webcams in the world.
The excitement over our national bird nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden culminated into a whole festival dedicated to the eagles known as the Eagle Festival, as well as numerous gift shop items for sale, programs about the eagles, and even a web page solely dedicated to the paired eagles cleverly named "Azalea" and Camellia." A local news station even provided access to the live cam, and visitors could donate to the Eagle Fund, which was sponsored by large financial corporations. People from all over the country - and even all over the world, flocked to the Norfolk Botanical Garden in hopes of catching a glimpse of these fearsome raptors.
Bald eagles in general typically nest on large trees within a few miles of open water, and the naturalized habitat of the botanical garden in proximity to the reservoir made for excellent eagle habitat - with one exception. The Norfolk Botanical Garden is located right next door to the Norfolk International Airport, and in April 2011, a plane struck the female bald eagle and killed her (Norfolk Botanical Garden, 2013).
This had come only a few years after another eagle succumbed to an airplane collision in 2009, and this caused concern from the Norfolk airport's director, who notified the FAA of the eagle incidents (Nolin, 2013).
The airport director's concern eventually led to the USDA's mandate that the bald eagle's nest should be periodically removed prior to egg-laying in order to discourage the eagles from nesting in the garden. Their rationale was based upon the habits and flight patterns of eagles, which fly erratically from land-covered areas to open water (Nolin, 2013).
The decision to evict the eagles from nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden led to enormous outcry from local residents and visitors, many who had been tracking the eagles nesting habits via the Eagle Cam for many years. This eventually led to a city-councilman supported citizens group, who call themselves the Eagle on Alliance, dedicated to ensuring that the eagles are "safe from any harm," (2013). In consequence, a common problem experienced by professionals in the wildlife conservation outreach discipline took place: the anthropomorphism, or the assignment of human traits and characteristics, to wild animals. Figure 1 shows the "eagle shrine" at the base of the eagle nesting tree, where eagle enthusiasts leave gift and notes expressing their grief over the undesired removal of their nest.
 |
| Figure 1: The "eagle shrine" at the base of a pine tree at the Norfolk Botanical Garden where a pair of Bald Eagles nested from 2007-2012. |
Whether or not the city of Norfolk, the USDA, and the FAA were right in their decision to remove the eagle's nest, or whether it was in fact a foolish and unethical procedure, is an opinion that I leave other people to express. Rather than focusing my criticism on the federal government or the city of Norfolk, I choose instead to "point the finger" at the middleman of this conflict: The Norfolk Botanical Garden Society (NBGS). I point my finger at them though, not with cold malevolence, but with a warm hope that they might take steps in the future to advance the conservation and preservation of our natural resources through sound scientific reasoning.
In wildlife conservation, it is common to use charismatic animals, such as the endangered panda bear or a leopard, as a flagship species. These attention-grabbing endangered resources play quickly into the hearts and minds of ordinary individuals, who are more likely to donate money to conservation groups who lobby for the protection of endangered wildlife species and their habitat.
Shortly after the incident with the eagles, and in response to the management plan for removing the eagle's nest, emotions swarmed among good-intentioned citizens. The NBGS as the middleman had an opportunity to channel this energy and enthusiasm for the eagles towards a broader conservation movement encompassing raptors and other wildlife in the Tidewater area of Virginia.
On the eagle web page of the Norfolk Botanical Garden website, it states that by "making a donation to our Eagle Fund you can help us celebrate the eagle family contribution to environmental education. Our Eagle Fund supports eagle programs and will help us to maintain the new eagle plaza." It then directs visitors to the contact information for Cathy Fitzgerald, the Director of Donor Relations.
Notice that the statement specifically refers to donations helping to maintain a new eagle plaza, with vague illusions to "eagle programs." Essentially, instead of taking the time to educate people about wildlife issues, and instead of using the funds to further protect eagles and other wildlife, they decided to capitalize on the nesting eagles, drawing on their charisma and eventually from the subsequent drama of their demise.
The aggressive revenue-centric capital campaigns on behalf of the NBGS regarding the eagles, and the naive outcry of emotions from local civic groups like the Eagle on Alliance has resulted in wasted time and energy as well as the squandering of valuable monetary resources that could have otherwise benefited the wildlife conservation movement in the Tidewater area.
On my boat tours, guests would anxiously ask me if the eagles were ever going to come back, and if we were still removing the nest. "So did you guys get rid of the eagles, then?" asks one annoyed middle-aged man. I would also speak with visitors who traveled hundreds of miles just to come and see the eagles, even though many of then had plenty of nesting eagles in their home states and within easy viewing range (albeit without a webcam).
Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 (US Fish & Wildlife Service, 2010). Figure 2 shows a map of known bald eagle nest locations in 2010 in Virginia, as determined by the Center for Conservation Biology (2013). A glance at the Chesapeake Bay region quickly shows that eagles nests are abundant, and that bald eagles are now far from endangered in the area. Essentially, all people really need to do to see bald eagles in the wild around Virginia is to step out of their houses and visit one of the numerous parks and public water access points.
 |
| Figure 2: Known locations of bald eagle nests in Virginia in 2010. The Norfolk Botanical Garden is located near the southeast corner of this map. Image copied from the Center for Conservation Biology, 2013, at http://www.ccbbirds.org/what-we-do/research/species-of-concern/virginia-eagles/status-in-virginia/#!prettyPhoto |
The map in Figure 2 should lead one to conclude that, whether truly based upon sound science or not, the decision to evict the eagles from nesting at the Norfolk Botanical Garden will have little (if any) impact on the success of bald eagles across Virginia (and across the whole country for that matter).
Chances are though, the above statement will hardly satisfy eagle enthusiasts, or "Eagle People" as one of my coworkers phrased it. This is yet again another one of the limits of wildlife conservation in context of single-species conservation. By drawing so much attention to the eagles, the NBGS inadvertently dismissed the importance of other wildlife species in the area -albeit not as charming as bald eagles - including those that could be at risk of becoming endangered such as the numerous migratory birds that take refuge from Norfolk's urban landscape, or the diversity of amphibians whose populations are on a global decline.
Engaging people's emotions and reactions to the bald eagle drama could have helped the NBGS become a leader in wildlife conservation in Southeast Virginia. For example, there could have been fundraising campaigns for wildlife conservation efforts in the city of Norfolk. These fundraising efforts could have then been used for protecting more land for wildlife habitat - or some other motive that would have brought positive change to environmental conservation in the Tidewater area of Virginia with a more holistic and ecological approach to the problem. Instead, the money and energy was spent on an expensive memorial sculpture (the Eagle Memorial).
Over the next several years, the NBGS will face several issues as a result of their mismanagement of the ongoing "eagle soap opera". This is indicative of what I would argue is an element of Hampton Road's ecological nativity, which the NBGS has yet to address. Much like the child's game of "telephone", misinformation and rumors about the eagle management plan will likely continue for some time.
I propose that the NBGS consider these general ideas over the next several years:
- Focus on wildlife conservation as a whole, rather than a single-species. Bald eagles and other wildlife can still be used as a flagship animal, but with the idea that efforts need to be made to protect the wildlife species and their habitat.
- Enhance outreach programs regarding eagles and other wildlife. Perhaps the NBGS could launch a campaign to make Norfolk the most bird friendly city in the world. We need some form of an aggressive and innovative conservation campaign that hones in the unique geography of Norfolk and its garden.
- Direct fundraising efforts on sustained conservation and research programs. While constructing fancy memorials does help to draw in visitors, we also need a sustainable, long-term endowment that allows the NBGS to further its mission.
There are countless ways that the NBGS can move forward from the eagle drama, and for me to list my own ideas is beyond the scope of this blog post for right now. The NBGS will have to work hard - and fast - to bring themselves out of the dust and back into the community as a renewed and cutting-edge environmental organization.
References
Center for Conservation Biology. (2013, September 01). Status in Virginia: Historic bald eagle breeding population. Retrieved from http://www.ccbbirds.org/what-we-do/research/species-of-concern/virginia-eagles/status-in-virginia/
Eagle on Alliance. (2013). Eagle on alliance. Retrieved from http://www.eagleonalliance.org/
Nolin, J. (2013, January 21). Evicted norfolk eagle refuses to leave botanical garden. The Virginian Pilot. Retrieved from http://hamptonroads.com/2013/01/evicted-norfolk-eagle-refuses-leave-botanical-garden
Norfolk Botanical Garden. (2013). Eagle nest history. Retrieved from http://norfolkbotanicalgarden.org/eagle-nest-history/
U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. (2010) Bald eagle recovered!. Retrieved 2013, September 06 from http://www.fws.gov/midwest/eagle/
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