Bad monkey !
The email’s title innocently read: "Please sign the petition," so I clicked the hyperlink (http://www.indyzoo.com/content.aspx?cid=879) to see what it was about.
To my surprise appeared the following petition on the web site of the Indianapolis Zoo and Gardens. With all due respect to the Zoo, this petition is so politically senseless on so many levels that it's a perfect example of what not to do.
"We, the undersigned, ask Congress to provide $2 million for each of the wildlife species covered under the Multinational Species Conservation Fund program -- African elephant, Asian elephant, rhino, tiger, great apes and marine turtles. Thank you."
Unfortunately this petition will not help any wild animals by any measurable degree - only self-interested Homo sapiens.
The wild African and marine animals will get virtually nothing because it will take at least $2 million for the federal government to execute any plan to help them. This makes the $2 million request an insult to every animal on the list. Please don't sign a petition that insults politically helpless animals that can't speak for themselves!
I'm not a zoologist. I study political animals. From what I know about their governments, I would turn to politically tainted government programs as the last resort to save wild animals.
This is not to say that governments have no role in protecting wild African and marine animals - just not our federal government. Certainly the governments of Africa, for example, need to secure their public lands from poaching, and to prosecute violators. Good governments also promote the expansion of private property and provide legal systems to protect property rights, which offer wild animals their best chance of survival.
But otherwise, private organizations like the Indianapolis Zoo are wild animals' best hope - not governments. Other groups include the African Wildlife Foundation, American Oceans Campaign, Elephants of Africa Rescue Society and the Elephant Sanctuary of Hohenwald, to name a few. Petitioning government to help wild animals only competes with the organizations that can do the animals the most good. Each tax increase by government makes it more difficult to help wild animals.
There is very little that governments do well. By their very nature, they use and manage resources unwisely. This means that - to any extent possible - we should not entrust wild animals to government programs, which are far too subject to bureaucracy and politics.
If wild animals could speak for themselves, they'd likely ask us to funnel our contributions through private zoological organizations instead of government. It would be money much better spent.
To my surprise appeared the following petition on the web site of the Indianapolis Zoo and Gardens. With all due respect to the Zoo, this petition is so politically senseless on so many levels that it's a perfect example of what not to do.
"We, the undersigned, ask Congress to provide $2 million for each of the wildlife species covered under the Multinational Species Conservation Fund program -- African elephant, Asian elephant, rhino, tiger, great apes and marine turtles. Thank you."
Unfortunately this petition will not help any wild animals by any measurable degree - only self-interested Homo sapiens.
The wild African and marine animals will get virtually nothing because it will take at least $2 million for the federal government to execute any plan to help them. This makes the $2 million request an insult to every animal on the list. Please don't sign a petition that insults politically helpless animals that can't speak for themselves!
I'm not a zoologist. I study political animals. From what I know about their governments, I would turn to politically tainted government programs as the last resort to save wild animals.
This is not to say that governments have no role in protecting wild African and marine animals - just not our federal government. Certainly the governments of Africa, for example, need to secure their public lands from poaching, and to prosecute violators. Good governments also promote the expansion of private property and provide legal systems to protect property rights, which offer wild animals their best chance of survival.
But otherwise, private organizations like the Indianapolis Zoo are wild animals' best hope - not governments. Other groups include the African Wildlife Foundation, American Oceans Campaign, Elephants of Africa Rescue Society and the Elephant Sanctuary of Hohenwald, to name a few. Petitioning government to help wild animals only competes with the organizations that can do the animals the most good. Each tax increase by government makes it more difficult to help wild animals.
There is very little that governments do well. By their very nature, they use and manage resources unwisely. This means that - to any extent possible - we should not entrust wild animals to government programs, which are far too subject to bureaucracy and politics.
If wild animals could speak for themselves, they'd likely ask us to funnel our contributions through private zoological organizations instead of government. It would be money much better spent.
posted by Kurt St. Angelo at 6:45 AM
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