Sir, Phil Randall (letter, June 5) has fallen into a familiar trap. He suggests that someone in authority interferes with natural predation in order to protect his songbirds. Predators and prey go through a natural cycle where one or the other will be dominant at any moment in time.
At the moment it’s the predators (buzzards and sparrowhawks) which are in the ascendancy, but sooner or later prey species (in this case songbirds) will fall below a level where they can support the predators. At that time, the predators will suffer from lack of food and will decline, leading to a recovery of the songbirds. The cycle will then begin again. This natural cycle has been going on for millions of years — without human intervention — across all areas of our wildlife: parasitic wasps and flies kill butterflies and moths, owls catch voles, orcas eat seals. That these species continue to exist is proof that the predator/prey imbalances will always sort themselves out.
If we prefer to see songbirds rather than buzzards, we are making a value judgment which should not exist. If we want to help our wildlife, we should take action to preserve or restore natural habitat. That would have real benefits to all of our wildlife, not just the pretty species. Wildlife needs our support, not selective interference.
Stuart Dunlop
Raphoe, Co Donegal