Intervention

This blog pertains to an article I read recently about the truth behind the Katrina flooding in New Orleans. I was shocked to find out that the levy's, as well as the hurricane, were not the biggest problems leading up to the actual storm. I have spoken to some friends I have from New Orleans and they said that the government has staged a small "intervention" of the the animal said to have destroyed the coastal marshes. Myocastor Coypus, also know as Nutria, have been devastating and destroying coastlines on a global level by eating indigenous vegetations which include marshes, farm crops, and wetlands. This invasive species is part of the rodent family, is a herbivore, semi-aquatic (they swim), and are very commonly compared to beavers from their physical appearance M. Coypus were brought to the United States to be farmed for their fur, but subsequently escaped after a large hurricane. Others claim that they were simply released from failing fur farms, and spread quickly through the southeast region of the United States coastline. As a global economy we have finally recognized melting polar icecaps and rising sea levels, and which aids in the destruction of any coastline This now raises an enormous ethical issue because these areas create safety buffers between the land and sea in many areas.

Typically marshes and wetlands act like barrier islands, as well as a habitat for thousands of different species. M. Coypus have destroyed so much of the Louisiana coastline that they had a significant role in the flooding of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. M. Coypus is tend to be easy to locate because they tend to stay in one localized spot their entire life, and will very rarely travel more than a few hundred yards away. I believe serious action needs to be taken to eliminate this problem since they are easy to locate. These invasive species serve no positive purpose to their environments.