Science: The Productive Guanay

The bird islands off the coast of Peru are more than a fabulous sight to tourists. The birds are among Peru's chief assets: last year they produced fertilizer (guano) worth more than $30 million. Their value is on the increase because the Peruvian government's Guano Administration Co. has recently encouraged the birds to colonize the mainland. According to Ornithologist Robert Cushman Murphy of New York's American Museum of Natural History, the company's management of the birds is one of the world's greatest examples of practical conservation.

About eight years ago, the company decided that lack of food is not the factor that...

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