Today, we traveled from the Wrigley Research Institute to see different parts of the island and have a fun adventuring day (even thought it’s all been really fun). Our final destination was a little resort town on Catalina called Avalon. We all traveled together in a van on some pretty winding roads and rocky terrain, but we made some interesting stops along the way.
This may come as an odd surprise to learn (it was for me!) that there are bison on the island. They were brought over to Catalina for a movie that was being filmed here in 1924 and have been here ever since. The bison population today is about 150 individuals. We saw quite a few in our travels, close up and far away, as well as solitary and in roaming herds. Lynn, our team leader, took this shot of a male bison–it was this close to us! Good thing we were in a van, which was much bigger.
Our first stop was at an animal rescue and rehabilitation center that is currently helping to recover a bald eagle and a golden eagle who have been injured and can no longer survive on their own. At this site, our group learned all about the amazing recovery efforts that you all have been reading about in your article Fighting for Foxes. I won’t repeat them here. It was cool to see a bulletin board while we were there that has been keeping an eagle chick count, and on the board it highlighted that in 2018 so far, 20 baby eagles have been born on Catalina Island, the most in the project’s history! That is a great accomplishment. I also learned that there are live eagle cams that you can watch of eagle nests on the island. Here is one from West End on Catalina, check it out:
Next stop was Avalon, and we relaxed on the beach, visited a botanical garden, and ate chips and salsa before we headed back to make it to Shark Harbor in time for sunset. We stopped at the local airport for homemade cookies, and I finally saw Catalina Island foxes! I was so excited, and could see why they are so miniature. They like to hang around places where people have food, because food sources are scarce for them. The good news is, there is a healthy population here, and have moved from endangered to near threatened status, which is a significant conservation success story.
Our last stop before home was Shark Cove, where we watched a beautiful sunset.
Finally, we all drove back to the research station with our head in the clouds. Literally.
It was a gorgeous day!
Answer the following question:
Some people argue that the bison on Catalina Island should not be here because they are not native to the island, are eating plants that could provide nourishment for endemic species, and should be removed. Other people say that they should stay because they attract tourists. What do you think makes the most sense, and why?
Conserving Marine Life on Catalina's Coast 
I feel like they should be removed if they are disturbing important plant to the island. It doesn’t matter about the tourists, it matters about nature.
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I think that they should leave because they are not native to the island
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I think if the bison are putting the eco-system in danger than they should be removed, but if they can benefit the eco-system they have every right to stay.
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I agree that the bison should not be on the island if they are harming the natural habitat. I was surprised to find out that they were kept on the island after the movie. Although they may attract tourists, I believe the natural economy is more important.
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I think that removing the bison makes the most sense because they are using resources that other native animals need. Attracting tourists is the least important thing to focus on in regard to animal preservation.
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I think if there are so few bison and they aren’t really harming the environment, that they can stay, because the bison alive are from that island, it is their home at this point, and there’d be no point taking them away from what is now their home. I think unless they cause serious damage or threaten the environment, they should be able to stay.
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I think the bison should be relocated into a habitat that’s natural for them to be found in. I think that nature is more important than the tourists and that we should protect it.
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I believe that tourism should not be a force to keep a non-native animal. Tourism will most likely bring disease and other harmful organisms to the area which could cause the ecosystem to be thrown off. Keeping an area native to its species will keep the parts moving in harmony. If anything, the bison should be slowly moved out of the area (without harm), and tourism in natural areas should be regulated for the safety of the ecosystem.
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We think that it makes the most sense to keep them on the island, not only because it will keep the islands tourist attractions thriving, it would be wrong to take them away from their home. They have adapted to the island, and taking them away would be mistaken.
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I think removing the bison is a good idea because they are harming the environment and the environment is more important than the tourist.
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I believe that it would be better if the Bison were relocated to a place where they naturally reside. Catalina island will still thrive in the tourist industry without the Bison. The opportunity to see endemic species are more rare and special than seeing Bison
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I think the bison should be re-located because they are not native the the lands and even if they are not doing much right now, in the future when the population of the grows, they might be harmful.
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I think that they should not inhabit Catalina Island. Catalina’s endemic species who could go instinct without the plants or certain resources that the bison use should be prioritized. However, I think that the movie filmers should have removed the bison right after the filming was done. Right now they are probably part of Catalina’s environment and wouldn’t be in tune with the environment of the place they came from. I do think they should still be removed.
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I believe that keeping an animal in a habitat that causes harm to the native species is wrong. The only reason why the bison are staying on Catalina Island is because of tourism. I think that the bison should be removed because they are causing harm to the native species which should take priority over non-native species. Tourists should still come to Catalina Island for its natural beauty and not only for the bison.
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My argument is that the bison on Catalina Island should be removed if they are causing harm to the land. It also does not make much sense to place an animal that is not native to it because it could have trouble adapting and it could bring new diseases and a new threat to the ecosystem. I will admit though, that it would be very hard to remove 150 bison from an island.
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I would argue that bison should be removed from the island. They are taking up natural resources for other native species. The bison also may be unamiliar and unadapted to the surroundings.
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My opinion is that they should not inhabit the Catalinas. Catalina’s species need certain plants and resources that the bison use.
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I think that the best thing to do with the bison is let them thrive where they are. If the population of them becomes too big, then they can be put in a more controlled environment.
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I think that moving the bison is not good! They are causing harm to the environment therefore they should be taken away.
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My bad, I mean moving the Bison is a good idea.
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I don t think that they should be taken away from the island since they have been there for quite some time now and have probably adapted to some of that lifestyle but I also think that keeping them because of a tourist attraction isn’t a very good reason why they should stay.
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I believe that the bison should stay until they start doing some more harm.
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I think that if the bison are causing harm to the island then the bison should leave. 😦
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I think that the bison on Catalina island should either be removed non forcefully or contained in a certain part of the island. I don’t think the bison should stay if it is hurting the environment. But I also think if the bison are happy there they should be able to stay. I really do not know.
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Although I am normally in favor of helping native species, I think it would be very harmful to the bison to move them now when they have been thriving in the Catalina Islands for years.
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The best solution would to not have the bisons live in Catalina Island. Their harming nature and taking away what’s beneficial to the island. It would make sense to take them away because nature should be more important than popularity.
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I think that the bison should stay on Catalina Island because it has been home to them for decades. Its seems like they have not made that much negative impact. The bison also attract tourists which brings more understanding of the ecosystem and its issues.
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However, if the bison population gets too big, some should be relocated.
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If the bison are putting the ecosystem in danger, they should be removed. However, if they are not damaging the island, I feel like they should stay
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In addition to this, it would be cruel to move animals who have been thriving on Catalina island for years. They may not be able to survive on their own in the wild if moved. They should not be relocated to zoo’s either.
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We believe that both options are not the best solution for this problem. We propose to contain the bison so they cannot hurt the plants.
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I think that we should value the environment more than we value tourism, therefore we should remove the bisons.
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I think these bison should stay if they’ve adapted to the island. If not, they should go to their native land.
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I believe that bisons should not be kept because of tourism. If they are harming the environment they should be removed.
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I think the Bison can stay, but their population should be kept in check.
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Great Job!
I think that bison look really cool on the island, but nature isn’t about tourists, so I think the foxes, sea life, and other native things should be featured.
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I think both of them makes sense, because if they aren’t native, and they eat something that is poisonous, then they might die, and not attract tourists. But also, the bison would probably really good for the tourists too, since they can see them in their habitat.
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I think the first one makes the most sense because people and their needs aren’t the main focus of nature.
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I think the bison should stay but if population becomes to big they should be re-located.
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I think that the bison should stay in case it will affect the ecosystem
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I think they should stay because attracting tourists might draw attention to the endangered foxes there. If people can raise awareness and money, the island could use it for their animals. If the population becomes to big, the boson could always be relocated.
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I think that since it is living and thriving here it should be allowed to be there where it belongs
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Nature is about Tourists so I be live that Nature should be featured.
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I think if the bison are just there for tourists, then they are useless. Like we learned in earlier posts if one animal is removed from the island all the animals on the island have to change, will that happen with the bison?
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I think it makes more sense to protect the native species on the island than please tourists. Nature isn’t for people. People are allowed to enjoy it, and see it, but that is not why it is here, and it is more important for us to protect our plants and animals than please people with bison.
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I think the bison should stay because it doesn’t give any negative impact on the island. Also they have been here for a long time so kicking them out would not be ideal.
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I think that they should stay because it would be too difficult to relocate. I think if there was a bigger problem with the bison that we should try to relocate them but because there isn’t, there is no need.
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If the Bison are harming the natural plants they should be removed. But if not they should stay.
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It makes more sense to me for the bison to be removed because if they are disturbing natural native things, it is not doing the island any good.
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I think they should leave because they can nourish somewhere else while others can’t
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I think they should stay because in an earlier post you said that no island animals were truly native. I don’t they should stay because of the tourists but because it’s their home.
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If you push them out of how they are living then it might not adapt to other environments
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I think the bison should stay but if things get out of hand then maybe considering something else.
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