At 12:57 PM 13/03/01 +0000, Night Parrot wrote:
I have been swamped by mails from both sides of the cannon netting debate.
Replies are still trickling in and so far, its not looking too good for
the trappers. Although for obvious reasons, there has been an almost
unanimous condemnation of the practice of Cannon Netting birds,..... Of
course the overwhelming response has been the general concern about the
mortality, cruelty and trauma inflicted upon the targeted birds and also
the single minded, science at any cost without regard to the consequences
attitude, which seems to prevail among cannon netters.
I think it seems fairly obvious from this that "Night Parrot" is conducting
a poll with a built-in bias. I would say on reading the list that there
have been some very well-reasoned postings defending cannon netting, not
always from cannon-netters (I won't say anything about my own contribution,
but I have never cannon-netted in my life). Also, I have yet to read a
single post here that could be remotely described as supporting "science at
any cost without regard to the consequences". Instead, what supporters
have talked about is CONSERVATION, which (if it is to be done properly)
requires the kind of detailed information cannon-netting helps to
provide. There have also been specific refutations of claims of high
mortality, as well as specific reports that the birds return almost
immediately to the site, which suggests that the "trauma" involved is minimal.
Night Parrot suggests his poll is "not looking too good for the
trappers". I would suggest that in the unlikely event that his (or her)
results lead to the curtailment of such an important conservation tool, it
will not look to good for the birds.
--
Ronald I. Orenstein Phone: (905) 820-7886
International Wildlife Coalition Fax/Modem: (905) 569-0116
1825 Shady Creek Court
Mississauga, Ontario, Canada L5L 3W2
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