We do need a new paradigm, one where not only people like us know and love
our wildlife. How many schoolkids do you know who learn about polar bears
and tigers, but know absolutely nothing about Australian wildlife outside of
kangaroos and koalas? And the number of people who tell me that Steve Irwin
was great because he publicised Australian fauna to children is amazing. He
certainly influenced some of the tour guides I know!
I believe for a start that some species of still common wildlife ought to be
made more available as pets so that at least our children will know and love
them. We've had lots of top-down solutions that go as far as prosecuting
people for touching roadkills (I haven't been prosecuted yet, but I've been
threatened, for taking dead snakes to school to teach kids how to tell the
difference between venomous and non-venomous taxa), and as far as I can see
it has done little to better the situation.
And while I'm on a rant, I'm sick and tired of having to persuade my
semi-traditional relatives not to take kittens out to Arnhem Land because
their kids want one - yes they've seen them in pet shops and on television
so they must be nice to have - or to buy pretty plants like those the
landscapers in their wisdom have used to decorate the local Aboriginal
reserve.
--
Denise Lawungkurr Goodfellow
PO Box 3460 NT 0832, AUSTRALIA
Ph. 61 08 89 328306
Mobile: 04 386 50 835
Birdwatching and Indigenous tourism consultant
PhD Candidate
Interpreter/transcriber, Lonely Planet Guide to Aboriginal Australia
Research survey:
For American birders -
http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=h3NCqTwur3H_2bPlbFtk_2bSpw_3d_3d
For UK and other birders
-http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=adx6k4cK_2fqMWzw79jmrmzg_3d_3d
http://www.denisegoodfellow.com.au
http://www.earthfoot.org
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/baby-dreaming
www.fatbirder.com/
For copies of Birds of Australia¹s Top End or Quiet Snake Dreaming, visit
amazon.com
on 4/5/10 9:32 PM, Andrew Thelander at wrote:
> Hello Sean
>
> I wish you well for your talk. Distance prohibits my attendance. The jury is
> no longer out on this one IMO. The Government sector has scored a sad FAIL
> mark when it comes to endangered species.
>
> We need a new paradigm. One that guarantees funding. One where the work is
> prioritized, managed and done by people who care passionately and who are
> allowed to work safely behind a cordon sanitaire against the disease of
> short-sighted politicking and pork barreling.
>
> Sorry for the wee rant! Cheers
>
> Andrew Thelander Author of "Last Birds"
> Blog: http://last-birds.blogspot.com/
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From:
> On Behalf Of SeanDooley
> Sent: Tuesday, 4 May 2010 12:45 PM
> To: 'BIRDING-AUS'
> Subject: [Birding-Aus] Sean Dooley's Lunchbox Soapbox
>
> The title of my talk is "Hands up who wants to die? The fate of endangered
> species in the new conservation regime." I think they were expecting a
> cutesy little talk about quaint birdwatchers but are instead getting my take
> on what is happening with the threatened species concept in this country at
> the moment. To their credit, the Centre have expressed strong delight that I
> am taking a more provocative approach.
>
> I will also be talking about the recent announcement from Peter Garrett that
> the Orange-bellied Parrot is on the verge of extinction. I am surprised at
> the lack of response to this on Birding-aus. I suspect that this is because
> the language of the press release was rather benign, but read the statement
> carefully, and this issue is very, very serious. This bird is so close to
> exticntion that if anyone wants to see it in the wild, I would suggest
> making plans to look for it this year, or next at the latest. Unless
> something miraculous happens, there will be very few, if any left beyond
> then.
>
>
>
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>
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> www.birding-aus.org
> birding-aus.blogspot.com
>
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