Video dedicated to the history of bats on the Diorama Nature channel.

ARTIFICI NATURALI (NATURAL ARTIFACTS)

The artwork appears in the collection of Natural Artifacts

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Included in Chapter 3

Coexistence

Dedicated paragraphs in the book

  • Struggle for Survival
  • Seville: The Stage
  • The Power of Numbers
  • The Giant Nightjar

Useful for understanding

What role do we play in the spread of species that can be harmful to native ecosystems?

What are the consequences of our manipulations on biodiversity?

We will analyze the example of the accidental introduction of ring-necked parakeets (an invasive species in Europe) in a park in Seville and the impact this species has had on the delicate local ecosystem.

Here is an excerpt from the book

In the Marรญa Luisa Park in Seville, some giant nightjars were found dead on the ground with their wings torn and their bodies horribly mutilated. There were no signs of struggle or other signs of predation near the lifeless bodies of the bats. Additionally, if the nightjars had been victims of a carnivore, their bodies would have been absent or at least dismembered rather than just injured.

Researchers couldn’t find a culprit responsible for these attacks. However, time was not on their side. A solution to these mysterious deaths needed to be found urgently, as the survival of one of the most important populations of giant nightjars in Europe was at stake. This community was at risk of suffering irreparable damage from this unknown aggressor.

After a long search, an unsuspected culprit finally came to light. It was an apparently harmless invasive species, originally from the tropics, which had arrived in our continent as a pet but managed to escape from apartment cages, returning to freedom: the Ring-necked Parakeet, a medium-sized green parrot that feeds on fruits and thrives in wooded areas.

On these pages, we will better tell this story of a struggle for survival, highlighting the main parties involved, the locations, and the hidden aspects of the situation.