Climate Change and Parks
Trip to the National Parks
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When Karla Colom hikes the Paseo del Morro National Historic Trail at sunset in a golf cart loaded with food, water and cleaning supplies, Old San Juan’s cats come out of hiding. Colony after colony, they materialize in the nooks and crannies of rocks along the ocean and hiding places in the greenery at the foot of the ancient walls built to the Puerto Rican city against maritime attacks.
“Hi Mick Jagger. Hello Mr. Jagger. Come here, honey. He’s very nervous.
“It’s Gizmo. No social era. It took me two years to become friends with her.
“Hey Flash, I love you. “
Karla Colom volunteers 3 times a week with Save A Gato, providing food and water for cats living along a paved trail on National Park Service land in San Juan. The task involves a lot of cleanup/Jennifer Bain
Colom, a volunteer with Save A Gato, knows the names, stories, and personalities of the cats. Talking to your feline friends helps pass the time as you tour the San Juan National Historic Site as part of a first-of-its-kind agreement between the National Park Service and a nonprofit.
It’s an agreement that’s under scrutiny because the Park Service no longer needs to tolerate feeding animals, especially those that are invasive species. Their draft wildcat control plan/environmental assessment, released at a public meeting in August, proposes 3 Solutions. Maintain the prestige quo. Remove the jacks. Give an animal welfare organization six months to trap and remove the cats (your preferred option) and then remove the feeding stations.
“It churns my abdomen and makes my blood boil,” Colom says of the situation. “These cats are free. It’s your home.
Gato Girafo, a bronze feline giraffe from the year 2000 through Jorge Zeno, is located in a small square in Old San Juan, near the Puerta de San Juan and the Paseo del Morro, where between one hundred and two hundred cats live.
Puerto Rico’s NPS unit attracts more than one million human visitors a year.
Other people don’t like to see or smell feral cats, but many are interested in photographing the iconic cats that roam the Paseo stairs from the blue cobblestone streets, the bronze statue Gato Girafo depicting a giraffe cat through artist Jorge Zeno, and Gautier’s La Casa Museo Felisa Rincón that pays tribute to a woman who was mayor from 1946 to 1968 and whose love Because of the stray cats, it continues to influence the neighborhood.
To put this story in context, it is necessary to perceive the geography of the San Juan National Historic Site. The well-preserved complex of masonry fortifications of the Spanish colonial army includes the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro (El Morro) and the Castillo de San Cristóbal del Viejo San Juan, as well as Fort San Juan de La Cruz (El Cañuelo) across the bay. It includes the iconic Puerta de San Juan and most of the city’s historic walls.
The well-known paved Paseo del Morro has been closed for months due to a water leak through the historic walls/Jennifer Bain
Built in 1999 and designated a National Recreational Trail two years later, the Paseo del Morro runs along the shoreline of San Juan Bay along the base of the walls between El Morro and the Puerta de San Juan. Soon after the paved trail was built, from which it began as a chance trail centuries ago, the park branch discovered that around 120 free-roaming domestic cats had colonized the area. Save A Gato says they’ve been living there for a long time.
In 2005, the park’s superintendent and Save a Cat signed a memorandum of understanding authorizing the fledgling nonprofit to feed, monitor, trap and dispose of free-ranging cats with the purpose of eventually disposing of all cats. -Release), friendly adults and kittens who can be socialized can participate in the adoption program in search of a permanent home. The rest are sent back to their colonies and monitored, fed and provided with new water.
In 2022, however, the number of feeding stations will increase to seven and the cat population appears to be increasing. The Park Service said a camera trap survey conducted in 2021 met at least two hundred cats, adding pregnant or recently pregnant kittens and cats. New cats arrive all the time, some abandoned because other people know they will be fed. Save A Gato agrees that other people are abandoning their pets in the area, but doesn’t think the population is that high.
Green Iguanas and Feral Cats Are Invasive Species That Coexist at San Juan/Jennifer Bain National Historic Site
Regardless, the NPS has begun laying the groundwork for a new plan to “improve the protection of its guests and employees, park resources, and lessen the effects on local wildlife related to stray cats, mitigate nuisances, and align the guest experience. “the purposes of the park and to bring the park into compliance with existing authorities on invasive species.
It held two open houses and sought feedback on two proposed solutions. A “no-action option” would allow Save A Cat to continue handling cats while removing or even getting rid of their presence. Refreshment stations would be reduced. Cats without tags (ear tips) would be eliminated. Population surveys would be conducted quarterly. But the federal agency’s preferred option would be to hire a professional organization to remove the cats and feeding stations and monitor the results.
People panicked and feared that all the cats would be killed. The story made headlines in North America in November 2022.
Cats live in the living room along the Paseo del Morro while Save A Gato’s volunteer Karla Colom cleans her feeding station and water bowls in the greenery just off the popular trail/Jennifer Bain
Save A Gato asked their Facebook fans to weigh in and tell the NPS how much it matters to people to have a population of healthy, neutered cats.
“During my visit I was reminded of the cats of Rome, which are also considered a tourist charm and where products that represent them are sold,” one user observed.
“I also noticed the exclamations of joy from other visitors, adults and youngsters, at the sight of the cats,” wrote another.
“We all need a solution to the problem of overpopulation and abandonment of cats in our country,” said a third, “but it is the animals that pay with their lives for the displacements and forget about the humans. “
Two cats on the rocks along the Paseo del Morro alley, near the historic walls of the Castillo San Felipe del Morro (El Morro), in Old San Juan/Jennifer Bain
Then, on June 14, the Paseo del Morro closed due to a water leak through the historic wall. Two months later, the draft of the control plan was published, which now presents 3 alternatives, to which is added the new one that would give six months of margin to remove the cats.
When I arrive in Puerto Rico in September, the Paseo is still closed. Save A Gato receives corporate donations of food and subsidies for vet bills, but has missed out on months of donations from stray cat-friendly tourists. He invites me to take part in a volunteer shift.
I meet Colom at the group’s port house, an old maintenance cabin right next to the Paseo that is in a national park and has been painted pink. There is an eye-catching mural of cats on a wall and many cats walk around. Several yellow “railroads” “crossing” symptoms warn motorists to slow down. Inside, the area is immaculate. Cats destined for adoption wait in individual cages.
Save A Gato has remodeled a maintenance cabin to turn it into a headquarters in Old San Juan, near the Paseo del Morro and the Castillo de San Felipe del Morro/Jennifer Bain
“We have to show them that everything will be OK for them,” says Colom, a former instructor who volunteers here three times a week.
Tourists fall in love with those cats, and if the documents are rarely in order, Save A Gato uses “flying angels” to take the animals to cities across the United States. It also conveys the message via Petfinder.
Today, Colom puts a lot of materials into a golf cart. Dry food. Coconut oil and cod liver oil to combine with cans of turkey in gravy. Freshwater. Cleaning materials. Some tourists, he says with a sigh, have clever intentions but complicate matters when they bring their own food and cat treats to the Paseo and give them diarrhea.
Cats Like May Hope Save A Cat’s House Port Will Be Adopted/Jennifer Bain
When we arrive at the Paseo at dinner time, Colom opens the door. “Okay, let’s go see the babies,” she promises. There they are. Hey guys, what’s going on?It’s Vladimir. Es Simba.
It gets tricky to keep track of everything, but it looks like there are five gas stations spread along the Paseo. Each domain is home to another colony of cats.
In the settlement, Colom makes an inventory of the stations of origin, discreetly hidden from the pedestrian path. Dry cat food is placed in a clear plastic container inside a larger, covered plastic container with a small cut-out entry. bricks and tub is filled with some water to ward off cockroaches and ants. Colom then digs up hidden water bowls, cleans them and fills them.
Karla Colom, a Gato volunteer, delivers food and water to cats living in Paseo del Morro neighborhoods in San Juan/Jennifer Bain National Historic Site
As much as we love cats, they are one of the worst invasive species in the world. They are not subject to leash legislation like dogs are. Wild and neglected domestic cats kill birds, rodents, insects, reptiles, and amphibians.
Old San Juan cats are fed, but that doesn’t mean they have an easy life. NPS surveillance cameras captured green iguanas and invasive rats dining at their feeding stations.
There is also at least one area of trees that serves as an oversized dumpster that wants to be cleaned. Plastic feeder tanks deserve to be sprayed and cleaned. It’s hard to find volunteers for such a task, but Colom says, “Those of us who stay are because we love it. We love cleaning, talking to the cats, watching the boats arrive. Cats are our friends.
Cat food is placed in an internal tub and surrounded by water to keep cockroaches and ants away/Jennifer Bain
It takes Colom an hour to get into position and two hours to feed and roll out (while listening to music and watching the sunset), but today it’s slower because we’re talking. On Saturdays, it makes a deep void.
We’re going through the water leak and I’m wondering why we can’t fence it off so other people can at least walk most of the Paseo. The closure has affected Save A Gato financially, but Colom admits that “cats are happier because no one bothers them. “
Grumpelina. Tacos. Nina. Kevin. Archie. Jean the Lover. Leo. Midnight. Clyde. Brad Pitt, who “gives you the most productive shots”. She introduces me to everyone, but today he’s a black and white guy with a blue eye, a green eye, and a crooked ear lingering in the photos. It’s called Two-Face after the character of supervillain Harvey Dent who is Batman’s adversary.
Old San Juan and Paseo del Morro cats come in all shapes, sizes, and temperaments. They are featured in an annual fundraising calendar for Save A Gato/Jennifer Bain.
“People come from all over the world looking for cats,” Colom says proudly. “They tell us it’s the highlight of their trip. “
The Save-A-Gato Sanctuary is even on TripAdvisor. Unsurprisingly, reviews range from “disgusting cats infesting a national historic site” to “a paradise on earth for cat lovers. “One user said, “I packed four bags of cat treats and my relatives thought I was crazy, but we had a great time. Feeding all the cats a day.
When the park service collected public comments between Oct. 20 and Dec. 10, 2022, it collected 2,511 responses in Spanish and English, from locals and tourists. The public scoping document is 519 pages long. While most of those who spoke were in favor of leaving cats alone, others noted that “moving around is certainly difficult, but not very unlikely for a cat. “One user pointed out that “there are opportunities for a cat colony to stand out as a component of Old San Juan’s tourist charm. It’s an original detail that gives a bit of life to the highly urbanized historic center. “
Of all the things I do during my week in Puerto Rico, besides milking a goat at a sustainable farm called Frutos del Guacabo, it’s my time with the stray cats that I think about all the time.
In Morro, at the San Juan National Historic Site, park ranger Carlos Almodóvar is the lead performer. Mike Gillespie, right, the Friends of the San Juan National Historic Site/Jennifer Bain.
Carlos Almodóvar, head of the interpretation department at the San Juan National Historic Site, takes me on a personal excursion to El Morro and brings the fortification to life. Mike Gillespie, founder of the Friends of San Juan National Historic Site, stores all the wonderful paintings. that his team is doing, especially in the school aspect, and he accompanies me from El Morro to the Puerta de San Juan and through some other public passage called Paseo de los ángeles Princesca. I stop at the Castle of San Cristóbal to see the old graffiti. “Of ships on the wall of a tunnel discussed by Almodóvar.
But in my last free moments in the city, I find myself returning to the locked door of the Paseo del Morro and searching in vain for one last glimpse of Two-Face. I think about everything Colom told me about those difficult cats: “Just because they don’t live in a space and can’t be touched, doesn’t mean they aren’t loved.
Two months later, while I’m still writing this story, I’m checking out new developments. Save A Gato does not have the volunteer resources to identify its annual fundraising schedule for 2024. The Promenade remains closed, awaiting repairs. The National Park Service finished receiving public comments on its draft stray cat control plan in October. There is no information on his next move.
Cats and sunbathing among the rocks along the Paseo del Morro in San Juan/Jennifer Bain
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