jenny
16-07-07, 06:11 PM
Seagulls fat, 'infertile' from fast food
By Glenn Cordingley
July 16, 2007 04:20pm
SEAGULLS gorging themselves on greasy junk food in Hobart are so fat it is affecting their reproduction.:blink:
University of Tasmania researcher Heidi Auman has found that silver gulls feeding on fatty scraps being thrown to them from seaside cafes has caused them to become overweight.
Ms Auman has been comparing city birds to those on the remote Furneaux Islands, off
Tasmania's northeast, as part of her PhD for almost four years.
She said the urban gulls were about 10 per cent fatter and had higher cholesterol, which was leading to poor quality eggs and a possible nosedive in their populations.
"They are scavenging outside cafes and at tips on things like chips,'' Ms Auman, who has been studying human impacts on sea birds as an ornithologist for 20 years. said.
"This has led to the Hobart birds laying smaller, lighter eggs, with less yolk.
"It is hard to say what impact this is having on their populations, but their numbers have been dropping significantly over the past 25 years and this could be the reason.''
Ms Auman said the roly poly gulls were still able to fly but the junk food was having the same effect on them as it does on humans.
"Silver gulls have capitalised on our wasteful society and some of the same effects of junk food on people seems to be manifesting in birds as well.
Article from: AAP
By Glenn Cordingley
July 16, 2007 04:20pm
SEAGULLS gorging themselves on greasy junk food in Hobart are so fat it is affecting their reproduction.:blink:
University of Tasmania researcher Heidi Auman has found that silver gulls feeding on fatty scraps being thrown to them from seaside cafes has caused them to become overweight.
Ms Auman has been comparing city birds to those on the remote Furneaux Islands, off
Tasmania's northeast, as part of her PhD for almost four years.
She said the urban gulls were about 10 per cent fatter and had higher cholesterol, which was leading to poor quality eggs and a possible nosedive in their populations.
"They are scavenging outside cafes and at tips on things like chips,'' Ms Auman, who has been studying human impacts on sea birds as an ornithologist for 20 years. said.
"This has led to the Hobart birds laying smaller, lighter eggs, with less yolk.
"It is hard to say what impact this is having on their populations, but their numbers have been dropping significantly over the past 25 years and this could be the reason.''
Ms Auman said the roly poly gulls were still able to fly but the junk food was having the same effect on them as it does on humans.
"Silver gulls have capitalised on our wasteful society and some of the same effects of junk food on people seems to be manifesting in birds as well.
Article from: AAP