News.Scotland.Org

Scotland, Mar 3: In what could be considered as the negative effect of ski tourism the researchers had warned about the possible harm that could be caused among the rare capercaillie birds. They hint that the ski tourism is raising the stress level of these birds; this could harm the fitness level of these birds and affect their ability to breed successfully.

Capercaillie is a turkey sized bird that belongs to the grouse family and has overcame from the verge of extinction in Scotland. According to the report main ski tourism destination like Cairngorms will see an adverse effect.

While writing about this in the British Ecological Socirty’s Journal of Applied Ecology the lead researcher said that the skiing activity could affect the body condition of these birds and also their overall fitness level. They also suggested that the forests inhabited by capercaillie should be kept away from the purview of tourism infrastructure.

A team of European ecologists working in the Southern Black Forest in Germany started the research by collecting the bird’s droppings before and after the beginning of the tourism season. The samples are then analysed for the presence of the stress hormone named corticosterone that they find higher in birds that live in the area that has high level of ski tourism. On the wake of the findings they stressed the need for a special protection for capercaillie.

“Ski tourism affects the habitat of the rare birds and it raises the stress level of these birds and will affect its body condition. This will lead to the ruining of overall fitness level of these birds. This is the reason behind our demand to keep tourism infrastructure away from the forests that is inhabited by rare capercaillie birds,” said one of the study’s author Dr Lukas Jenni of Swiss Ornithological Institute.

So, prompt measures are needed to help the birds to relieve from the threat of being wiped out.

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