He said the developer is willing to do things like shield external lights and install special fencing on the addition’s east side adjacent to the park.

The experts said the addition as it’s currently planned would degrade the diversity and health of the wildlife populations and wildlife habitat of Sutton Wilderness if the addition goes ahead.

“Equally important, the development as proposed will have a detrimental effect on critical ecological functions of the riparian zone (stream and floodplain) on the subject tract,” said Deborah Dalton, University of Oklahoma professor and director of the university’s Interdisciplinary Perspectives on the Environmental Program.

Dalton said the development will cut off the crucial ecological connection between Sutton Urban Wilderness and the riparian zone of Sutton Creek, which runs through the middle of the proposed development.

She said corridors that maintain connectivity for Sutton Wilderness need to be 200 to 300 feet wide, contrasted to the about 70-foot corridor planned by the developer.

Roberta Pailes said the acronym HIPPO details causes for biodiversity loss at the park, which includes forest, grasslands and wetlands. HIPPO stands for habitat loss, invasive species, pollution, population and overconsumption.

Pailes said the IOOF cemetery to the east of the proposed Sutton Creek tract provides some habitat and a reasonably secure open space, with division of a large area reducing its wildlife population.

She said cats and dogs are predators, but are protected from disease, competition for food and other factors that control the numbers of native predators such as owls, bobcats and foxes.

“Cats also kill rodents and thereby reduce the numbers of hawks and owls because decreased populations of the hawk’s and owl’s natural prey,” Pailes said, noting a female cat can produce up to 24 kittens in a year and one study showed a well-fed cat killing 1,600 small animals in an 18-month period.

“A closely packed neighborhood with a long border will inevitably result in calls for Animal Control to come and trap offending wildlife,” she said. “This will result in eventual depopulation.”

Pailes said buffers around the park have been part of the history of maintaining the park, with the buffer zone between Sutton Urban Wilderness and the Griffin Complex at 900 feet wide.

“Let it be noted that the Parks and Recreation Department was pushing for ball fields and soccer fields in this area; this was not a totally painless decision,” Pailes said.

Dr. Gary Schnell holds the OU position of professor of zoology and curator of birds in the Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History that George Sutton used to occupy.

Schnell said houses up against the edge of the park would have a “highly detrimental effect.”

“The edge will be lost to many types of wildlife that are now found in the park. The noise, the lights, the activity will have highly negative effects on natural aspects of the western portion of Sutton Urban Wilderness Park,” he said.