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Ranking countries by risk of crime against birders

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Subject: Ranking countries by risk of crime against birders
From:
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 1998 14:05:39 -0500 (CDT)
I think it might perhaps be helpful to try to categorize countries by the risk 
of crime against 
birders.  It's very difficult to judge the danger from reading press reports, 
since stories about crime 
don't distinguish between the crime that is unlikely to affect birders and 
crime that might.  For 
example, Brazil is quite a safe country for birders, despite having the second 
highest murder rate 
in South America after Colombia, and despite the fact that dude tourists 
sometimes are mugged in 
touristy places that birders tend to avoid, such as downtown Foz do Iguacu.  On 
the other hand, 
many ecotourists have been the victims of crime in Costa Rica and Ecuador, 
which tend to receive 
more favorable press coverage than Brazil.  Reports out of Indonesia might lead 
one to believe 
that a visitor would be subject to great danger of assault, but Indonesia is 
one of the safest tropical 
countries in which to go birding.  On the other hand, neighboring Papua New 
Guinea is one of the 
most dangerous.

Without any statistics at hand, I have compiled an incomplete list, which is 
submitted here for 
comment:


High risk of crime against birders:

Colombia
Peru

Nigeria
Liberia
Sierra Leone
Kenya
South Africa
Angola
Mozambique
Congo (ex-Belgian Congo)
Algeria
(and undoubtedly other African countries)

Papua New Guinea

Russia


Somewhat dangerous:

Mexico
Belize
Guatemala
Costa Rica
Ecuador
Chile

Uganda
Ivory Coast
Cameroon
Zimbabwe

Nepal
Turkey


Reasonably safe (if New York City and Miami are considered "reasonably safe"):

Brazil
Argentina
Paraguay
Uruguay

Indonesia
Malaysia
Brunei
Thailand
China

France
Belgium
Italy

Safer than home (New York City):

Canada

England
Netherlands
Denmark
Norway
Sweden
Finland
Germany
Switzerland
Poland
Austria
Iceland

Taiwan
Japan
Singapore

Australia
New Zealand


John Wall
Scarsdale, New York



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