On April 9th 2021 the La Soufrière volcano started erupting, leading to the displacement of about 20,000 people.
Also affected by the explosive eruptions of La Soufriere was forest wildlife, which had their lives disrupted by, ashfall and pyroclastic flows.
WEFM’s Activated Mornings was joined earlier this week by Director of the Forestry Department within the Ministry of Agriculture Fitzgerald Providence to discuss the impact on these forest animals as well as what actions were taken by the department to mitigate the effects of the eruption.
Mr. Providence first spoke of the parrots, and how their evacuation of dangerous areas would have been possible due to their ability to fly.
“The parrots would have moved a little south to areas like Cumberland and lower, but because of there is development; in 1902 when there was less development, one third of the population, they would have probably had more areas to move to, but because of development they were limited” he said.
According to the Forestry Department’s Director while citing the figures from a survey conducted by the department, there was no major change in the parrot population, which indicates that they survived the eruption.
However he expressed concern for those forest animals that lack the ability to take flight in order fly to safety.
“We were concerned with our other animals such as the possum and the agoutis which may not have been able to move because they can’t fly, that’s why we had a moratorium on the hunting season, which was from October last year to January/February this year” he said.
Mr. Providence said this action was taken due to the fact that sightings of possums, agoutis and iguanas had decreased significantly, which was major cause for concern.
