Not to mention...is this even legal? Shipping bushmeat across international borders?
Lauren On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 10:07 AM, David L. McNeely <[email protected]> wrote: > I do not see enough scientific value in this endeavor to justify the > potential conservation harm. Bush meat is a serious conservation concern > in substantial parts of the tropics. For a person from a wealthy country > to encourage this practice for the sake of what is admitted to be play > rather than a serious scientific endeavor seems to me to be unethical. The > scientific questions mentioned could be addressed much more directly with > experiments involving particular species that are not threatened and are > not regular parts of the bush meat trade. Of course, to design such > experiments, a person would need to be knowledgeable enough about the > species involved and their ecology to know what he or she was doing. > > Jared Diamond has addressed the matter of consumption of the flesh of bird > specimens collected for science (only the skins and skeletons were normally > preserved for scientific purposes) and their relative palatability in his > works on New Guinea ornithology. He mentions in those discussions whether > his New Guinean native assistants regularly ate particular birds or not, > and the reasons they gave him. Perhaps the investigator could begin her > studies by investigating what is already known in this area. > > What this "investigation" sounds like is simply a desire on the part of > the "investigator" to collect gastronomic trophies. Please don't. > > David McNeely > > ---- "Clara B. Jones" <[email protected]> wrote: > > Ecolog-l-ers: > > 1. ...several individuals have posted me asking to share more about why i > > want to sample "bushmeat"... > > 2. ...there's really no reason not to be open w this project [intended to > > be fun, anecdotal, and a type of "sciency" play for me]... > > 3. ...the primary thing i'd like to get some sense of is whether > qualities > > of the aftertastes [and associated physical after-effects] of terrestrial > > folivores and/or primarily folivorous animals correlate in any manner > with > > preferences of the animals as prey... > > 4. ...however i go about this, there will be many problems related to > > reliability & validity that i will not be in a position to [nor, > > particularly, interested in] control [variation of all sorts, e.g., > > gustatory variations, chemical defense, and, sebaceous gland, > variations, & > > in humans, cooking & other culinary treatments, etc, etc]... > > 5. ...nonetheless, though this project is"fishing", it's something i've > > wanted to do for a long time... > > 6. ...obviously, i can begin with folivorous taxa i've already tasted [a > > few in No Am*, a few in Central America*]... > > 7. ...based upon 1 of my studies + interviews + observation, etc, in the > > tropics over some period of *T*, frugivores &/or non-folivorous > herbivores > > are preferred tissue [as one would expect, i suppose]...[e.g., > frugivorous > > spider monkeys preferred to folivorous howler monkeys; many animal > tissues > > preferred to opossums] > > 8. ...the literature i've perused so far [v interesting stuff by Tom > Kunz] > > basically rules out volant taxa [birds, bats]...in the US... > > 9. ...among terrestrial taxa in the US, i would guess that some spp of > rats > > & snakes [& numerous insects] are folivores or, predominantly, > folivorous... > > 10. ...however, on balance, i do not know what they might be nor would i > > know whether they are common or, whether the snakes might be poisonous > but > > edible... > > 11. ...directly related to the above, for quite some time, i've been > > interested in what, if any, adaptive significance [rather than simply > > byproduct effects] "gaminess" may be all about; though, i haven't looked > at > > the literature to see what is already stated on this topic... > > 12. ...because, for me, at present, this exercise is equivalent to "play" > > [an aside to other things], i am only hoping to generate some ideas, > maybe > > a few serious questions, maybe thoughts about rigorous research > designs... > > 13. ...i am aware that there are many scientific and commercial studies > > related to my exercise...both in the field [e.g., Paul Garber's work w > > monkeys], in the lab [e.g., John Garcia's work w rats], and in industry > > [e.g., "taste tests"]... > > 12. ...if any of this interests any of you, please do not hesitate to > > contact me...best, clara > > > > *...as a granddaughter and daughter of 3 gourmands, as a field worker, > as a > > traveler, as a relative & friend of many serious hunters & fishermen, as > > well as, as a serious home cook, i have more experience than average > with a > > relatively wide range of capture [e.g., some trapping], preparations, and > > foods, themselves [e.g., exotic produce & meat, eggs, entrails, wild > > foraging, etc]...i severely qualify these statements knowing, and, > > acknowledging, that many of you have, not only, more, and a wider range > of, > > examples & experiences than i, but that, many of you have, no doubt, > > sampled a much wider range of exotic organisms than have i and on many > more > > continents...i understand that, in the domain of "wild" foods, there are > > "lifers" as well as in birding... > > > > -- > > Clara B. Jones > > Director > > Mammals and Phenogroups (MaPs) > > Blog: http://vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com > > Twitter: http://twitter.com/cbjones1943 > > Cell: -828-279-4429 > > Brief CV: > > > http://vertebratesocialbehavior.blogspot.com/2012/10/clara-b-jones-brief-cv.html > > > > > > "Where no estimate of error of any kind can be made, generalizations > about > > populations from sample data are worthless." Ferguson, 1959 > > -- > David McNeely >
