Talk:Beaver eradication in Tierra del Fuego

Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment
This article was the subject of a Wiki Education Foundation-supported course assignment, between 27 August 2019 and 6 December 2019. Further details are available on the course page. Student editor(s): Kayla.Bellan.

Above undated message substituted from Template:Dashboard.wikiedu.org assignment by PrimeBOT (talk) 17:54, 17 January 2022 (UTC)

catalysm

 * In 1946, the Argentinian government imported fifty beavers from Canada. The beavers were the putative catalyst for the administration's failed attempt to promote commercial fur trading.

That's a strange use of "catalyst". It seems to say that the state got the idea for a fur trade after the beavers appeared; if so, why were they brought in the first place? —Tamfang (talk) 20:23, 13 October 2015 (UTC)


 * I agreed, and checked the source. It mentions "Argentine administrators" who "imported 50 beavers from Canada," which according to a "parks service biologist" were "let loose in Lake Fagnano in the middle of Tierra del Fuego." The word "putative" suggests that we don't have proof that this was the administration's effort (we do), and catalyst, as suggested above, implies that the beaver import led to the commercial fur trade effort, which is incorrect. Perhaps a way to rephrase could be, "In 1946, the Argentinian government imported fifty beavers from Canada. They were were released in Lake Fagnano with the intention of creating a commercial fur trading industry. While such an industry failed to materialize, the introduction of beavers in this region has had far-reaching consequences." Alt lys er svunnet hen (talk) 02:30, 2 April 2016 (UTC)
 * It is impossible to know with certainty (absent documentary evidence or witness statements) the internal thought process of these bureaucrats. thus the word "putative." Your rewrite looks fine to me.  7&amp;6=thirteen (☎) 18:03, 7 April 2016 (UTC)

Needed article updates
This tidbit at the end, "Currently, the emphasis in the Tierra del Fuego National Park is on control, not on eradication" would appear to be wrong. The source provided doesn't make this claim. Additionally, there is a recent report here (http://www.issg.org/pdf/publications/Island_Invasives/pdfHQprint/1Malmierca.pdf) that describes control efforts beginning in 1981 that included trapping, commercial and recreational hunting, and bounties for pelts and meat. Much of these efforts have continued and expanded. Other recent sources from the last couple years point to a systematic "all of the above" strategy now being used to control the population (local people are dubious on this, given past failures). There are details of a zone-by-zone eradication program available, conversely they may be targeting adult beavers specifically because by doing so the young ones stay behind to occupy old dams rather than expanding and building new ones.. Also it would appear that beavers now occupy 90 percent of the watershed of Isla Grande. All this and more ought to be added to the article, in the near future I'll try to get the references up. Especially that Methods section, needs to be expanded and changed (it reads as though there have been no eradication efforts in the area, when in fact there is a rather detailed history of them). <> Alt lys er svunnet hen (talk) 05:08, 20 June 2016 (UTC)

Merge proposal
I propose merging Beaver eradication in Tierra del Fuego into Beavers in Southern Patagonia. This is clearly duplication and this can easily be summarised into a single article, as this one is still pretty short.Arcahaeoindris (talk) 16:11, 8 September 2023 (UTC)
 * ✅ Klbrain (talk) 14:47, 26 February 2024 (UTC)