MetaFilter posts tagged with poaching

Where the wild things are/are not.

mightshould — Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:03:39 -0800

Poaching – not pears, not birds, but plants. In the feed-me-Seymour vein of green and growing things, these are the plants that eat things – too bad they aren’t able to defend themselves from people and habitat loss. But wait! There’s help on the way. A notice calling for people to volunteer to replant poached Venus Fly Traps grabs your attention. Seems there are folks who are in charge of looking after the little creatures and their habitat: “Plants are a challenge because they don’t have big brown eyes and fur,” said Tom Chisdock, when discussing public perception of the plant’s protected status. When a species is being threatened not only because of habitat loss but also because it’s easy pickings, and when the fine is $35 per event (not per plant) it’s pretty hard to deter the poachers. For legitimate resale, the plants are cultivated in greenhouses; however they aren’t fond of captivity and are difficult for the home grower to keep alive. And, what if the folks collecting the plants are semi-official? Alert advocates help. A conversation on a carnivorous plant message board went all out in identifying a situation where an aquarium was collect/poach/harvesting the plants. A discussion ensued and the response was an open letter reply by the director of Husbandry: “When we have ventured into the field, our practices have been consistent with ICPS policy regarding collection.” Yeah, they do it, but it’s OK because they are doing it within guidelines.

Bloody Diamonds

Araucaria — Tue, 08 Jan 2008 14:50:47 -0800

The Hope Diamond glows red when exposed to ultraviolet light. In itself, this is an interesting way to determine the provenance of a particular gem. But when the same story is reported by the Associated Press, it acquires an interesting subtext: natural diamonds are "real", while man-made diamonds are "artificial". The AP reporter has absorbed a half-century of diamond cartel marketing campaigns. What makes a laboratory-produced gem less valuable than a natural gem? Artificial rubies, emeralds and sapphires have been around for years, and Moissanite (gem-quality silicon carbide) has many of the same desirable qualities as diamonds — with even higher refraction. Large high-quality artificial yellow diamonds have been available at relatively low cost for half a decade. So why does the popular image of a diamond persist as sentimental, desirable and valuable? How do the undesirable side-effects of the diamond trade differ from the undesirable side-effects of the demand for elephant ivory? Discuss.

Four endangered gorillas found shot dead

james_cpi — Thu, 26 Jul 2007 09:21:22 -0800

Four endangered gorillas were found shot dead in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo, a conservation group announced today. For all the evil bastards that do this, there are many, many more good people fighting the good fight to help keep gorillas healthy. One, even has a blog.

MS Steals GamerDad's name, popping children's balloons next on To Do list

dejah420 — Thu, 19 Oct 2006 22:41:37 -0800

GamerDad, a site which has been around since 2003 (and is a registered trademark), has been a source of amusement and reviews for parents who play games, and parents who want to know what their kids are playing. Microsoft decided that they liked the name so much, they would steal it. But at least they had the courtesy to admit they knew about GamerDad before they stole the name.

Follow the Rhinos

oissubke — Thu, 19 Aug 2004 20:07:06 -0800

Follow the Rhinos Weblog tracking two white Rhinos as they travel next month to the Phoenix Zoo. Nice looking site (via CSS Vault). In related news, poachers have killed about half of the world's population of wild white rhinos in the last year (more here).