Conservation lies not in the zoos, but in how the zoos are managed.
> I agree that we need to tie ourselves in more closely with
> cooperative organizations that ACTUALLY WANT AND WOULD APPRECIATE our
> help, we might buy up bits and pieces of those places doomed to the axe
This sounds like a demand.
> Lastly, I to am disgusted by the offical concept that if you do
> not have the proper paperwork and are paid then you do not know what you are
> talking about. I do not claim to be a botanist despite many years of study
This is not the official concept. As for permits, they are a
way of keeping track of what research is being done on rare plants.
Rare plants cannot withstand the pressure of a lot of study. People
who want a permit must apply for one, with a research proposal.
Why not try research on common plants?
> question was raised about disapearing songbirds. With all the protection
> the birds were getting here in the US and Canada, why were they
> declining? It happened that at the same time several top notch
> Universities with all the proper paperwork were conducting yearly census' in
> central and S. America(I forget where exactly, will look it up and
> report) in order to add to thier collections. THOUSANDS of songbirds,
> common here in the US were being killed and stuffed for each place.
> WHY? When all were readily avaiable as stuffed specimens alreadyt in the
> collections of these same universities. To fulfill the protocol laid out
> for the census. I know we are back to birds again, but the point I am
> trying to make is that just because they have credentials doesn't mean
> anything as far as conservation. What was being done in the name of
I am disheartened to hear amateurs criticize the work of professionals
while at the same time expressing a desire to do the work of professionals.
Michael Chamberland