Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!think.com!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!sol.ctr.columbia.edu!emory!gatech!prism!mailer.cc.fsu.edu!sun13!sun8.scri.fsu.edu!sandee From: sandee@sun8.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) Newsgroups: rec.birds Subject: Re: round-the-world birding trip Message-ID: <3093@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> Date: 30 May 91 10:38:08 GMT References: <969@macuni.mqcc.mq.oz> <3078@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> <$3aHs_ph@cs.psu.edu> Sender: news@sun13.scri.fsu.edu Organization: SCRI, Florida State University Lines: 69 In article <$3aHs_ph@cs.psu.edu> marcone@math.psu.edu (Alberto G. Marcone) writes: >In article <3078@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> sandee@sun8.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) writes: >> >>I doubt you will find anything documented on Italy. Italians >>don't look at birds, they shoot them. >> >>Daan Sandee sandee@scri.fsu.edu >>Supercomputer Computations Research Institute >>Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL 32306-4052 (904) 644-7045 > >Being Italian I felt I need to say something about this. It is true >that activities like birdwatching are far less widespread in Italy >than in most other countries (I myself became a birdwatcher in the USA) >but the sensibility of Italians about environmental problems is >steadily on the rise. Daan refers explicitly to hunting but probably >does not know the widespread opposition to hunting in Italy: last year >there was a referendum aimed at virtually abolishing hunting in Italy >and (if I recall this correctly) about 90% of the ballots cast were >against hunting. Unfortunately less than 50% of the voters cast their >votes and so the referendum did not work ... I apologize to the Italian people for my off-hand remark about Italians shooting birds. I knew of the anti-hunting referendum being defeated for technical reasons (thanks for reminding me of the details), and was thus aware that the bird-killing aspect of Italian culture was followed by only a minority of Italians. I should explain that I write from the perspective of a Western European, and I am concerned about the future of migrant songbirds in my home country (The Netherlands). One of several problems they have is the wholesale slaughter along the migration route in Southern Europe, with Italy being the main offender (France running a close second). >Since this is not trial.soc.culture.italian I go back to my point >saying that when I moved to the USA three years ago I was surprised >at the amount of social approval that hunting has in this country ... Absolutely. If you want to point out that hunting is more socially acceptable in the U.S. than it is in Italy, you may well be right. But I never heard of U.S. hunters shooting at migrant songbirds. (They do shoot at bald eagles and other endangered species, though, both accidentally and on purpose. Last year, a hunter shot a whooping crane. He thought it was a snow goose, he said. No doubt the refuge people told him he'd just eliminated one percent of the world population). >I am sending directly to the original poster a few references I >have for birding in Italy. I, too, would be interested, although it is unlikely I will be birding in Italy in the near future (but not impossible ; to confuse the situation a bit more, I am currently physically located in Paris, France, where I have Internet access but no Usenet access. Two weeks ago, I was in the French Alps looking for Blue Rock Thrush and such, without much success). What I would like to know is the extent of birdwatching (to use the most general term) in Italy. Is there any organization? any document- ation? >This wasn't intended to be offensive for anyone: we should just >be careful to avoid reasoning by stereotypes... Absolutely. Which is why I apologize. > >Bye, >Alberto marcone@math.psu.edu Daan Sandee sandee@asterix.ipgp.jussieu.fr Thinking Machines Corporation Institut de Physique du Globe 75252 Paris France Phone 011 33 1 4427 2415