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<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>From Tuesday’s
New York Times.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:10.0pt;font-family:Arial'>Randi Doeker<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><b><font
size=2 face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
font-weight:bold'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><b><font
size=2 face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
font-weight:bold'>September 11, 2007<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<h1 style='mso-margin-top-alt:0in;margin-right:0in;margin-bottom:.1in;
margin-left:0in;mso-margin-top-alt:0in;mso-para-margin-right:0in;mso-para-margin-bottom:
.6gd;mso-para-margin-left:0in'><b><font size=2 face=Georgia><span
style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia'><NYT_KICKER>Dogs on the Trail,
Even on a Leash, Give Birds a Fright <o:p></o:p></span></font></b></NYT_HEADLINE></h1>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><b><font
size=2 face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
font-weight:bold'><NYT_BYLINE type=" " version="1.0">By HENRY FOUNTAIN<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'></NYT_BYLINE><NYT_TEXT>Dog walking: good for you, good for your
pet.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>Not so good for birds, apparently.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>Australian researchers have found that walking leashed dogs along
woodland paths leads to a significant reduction in the number and diversity of
birds in the area, at least over the short term. <o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>Peter B. Banks and Jessica V. Bryant of the <st1:PlaceType w:st="on">University</st1:PlaceType>
of <st1:PlaceName w:st="on">New South Wales</st1:PlaceName> surveyed birds
along woodland trails near <st1:City w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Sydney</st1:place></st1:City>
shortly after dogs were walked on them or after people walked alone. All kinds
of dogs were involved, big and small, purebred and mutt. As a control, they
also surveyed birds on trails that no one, human or canine, had recently walked
on.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>Dr. Banks said the study was an outgrowth of his interest in
predator-prey interactions. “Here you have a predator that is being
walked through the bush quite regularly,” he said.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>The researchers chose trails in places where dogs were banned and
in other areas where dog walking was common, expecting different results in
each. “We thought that where there was regular dog walking birds would
get used to it,” Dr. Banks said. “Well, they didn’t.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>Regardless of the type of area, dog walking led to a 35 percent
reduction in the number of bird species and a 41 percent reduction in overall
bird numbers, compared with the control. (People walking alone caused some
disturbance, but less than half that caused by people with dogs.)<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>The study, published in Biology Letters, provides support for park
managers and others on the same side of what can be a heated debate over dogs
in natural areas.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 color=black face=Georgia><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Georgia;
color:black'>“The problem is there are other uses for an area”
besides dog walking, said Dr. Banks, who described himself as “not a dog
hater.” “If dogs walk throughout an area, you’re just not
going to get the same bird-watching experience or ecotourism experience.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM></NYT_UPDATE_BOTTOM>
<p class=MsoNormal style='margin-bottom:.1in;mso-para-margin-bottom:.6gd'><font
size=2 face=Arial><span style='font-size:11.0pt;font-family:Arial'><o:p> </o:p></span></font></p>
</NYT_TEXT></div>
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