This article is from page 54 of the 2008-09-09 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 54 JPG
A MAJOR television documentary by two Clare-based experts claims that global warming is having a pro- found impact on local wildlife with increasing varieties and numbers of alien invaders moving to the county.
A six part documentary series, due to be broadcast on TG4 later this month, features over a dozen for- eign species never before featured on Irish television. “Coimhtioch Gan Cuireadh’ or ‘Alien Invaders’ takes a broader look at Irish wildlife and re- counts the fascinating stories of how some of Ireland’s alien species ended up in Ireland.
They include the slow worm, which can only be found in the reclaimed meadow fringes of the Burren and the Bank Vole which was introduced to Ireland in the 1920s during work on the Shannon hydroelectric scheme when large machinery was shipped from ports in the north of Germany. Also featured are the Chinese Mit- ten Crab, Mourning Dove, Emperor Dragonfly, Natterjack Toad, Trigger Fish and Slipper Lobster.
According to Ballycar resident and wildlife expert John Murphy, who is a director of Waxwing Wildlife Productions, the documentary fea- tures species many people rarely if ever encounter even though they are present all around them.
He explained that increasingly ex- treme Mediterranean climates had resulted in a dramatic rise in the
numbers of exotic species of birds and maritime fish arriving and set- tling in Ireland.
‘We are seeing more cases of alien species of birds appearing on our shores. The arrival and spread of the Collared Dove, Cattle Egrets and the melodic Blackcap are prime exam- ples of this growing trend. Mean- while, during filming on Inish Bofin in County Galway this year we docu- mented the first every sighting in Ire- land of a Mourning Dove, which had arrived from the USA’ commented Mr. Murphy.
The programme’s editor and pro- ducer Stan Nugent, who lives in Bal- lymacahill outside Ennis, says that the documentary provided real evi- dence of how some foreign species were having a detrimental impact on the Irish environment and on native AUC DEKE
He said that alien fish species were also appearing along Ireland’s coast in greater numbers. The Grey Trig- gerfish 1s a warm-water species with a normal range in the tropical Atlan- tic and the Mediterranean. However, in more recent times during summer months when the seas are at their warmest, they can be found in the waters around Ireland. The same can be said of sea creatures like the Slip- per Lobster, which have only been caught in recent times in Lobster pots in the south of the country.