I blame all the spicy owl wing restaurants.
Posted on 11/07/2010 1:01:43 PM PST by nickcarraway
The popularity of Harry Potter, and dabbling in the dark arts, are responsible for the demise of wild owls in India, according to the country’s environment minister.
“Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls,” said Jairam Ramesh.
His warnings came as a new report on the illegal trade of the endangered birds was released by Traffic, an organization working to protect them.
The report also says that the practice of sacrificing owls and using their body parts in ceremonial rituals on auspicious occasions is also fueling the illicit trade.
While owls are supposed to be protected in India, the report warns that nearly half of the country’s species can be found on sale in markets.
Traffic warned of likely owl sacrifices around Diwali, the festival of lights, which started on November 5.
“Diwali should be a time for celebration across our nation, not one when our wildlife is plundered to feed ignorant superstition,” Ramesh said.
Proof that if Harry Potter wasn’t a witch India would be a Christian nation! I blame Bush!
“to feed ignorant superstition”
Like worshiping a cow or like worshiping a monkey?
Even before the Obamas visit.
Wow. That guy is ALMOST as crazy as our own EPA Director.
Well they should read the books, no one sacrifices owls in the Harry Potter books.
And people wonder why India is a third-world nation at best?
Your’s is a strong, logical and convincing argument. I’ve decided to blame Bush for this, too.
;-)
How many owls have they sacrificed in the Harry Potter books/movies? NONE. They need to blame something, I guess.
The sacrifice of owls in India pre-dates "Harry Potter" by hundreds of years. This is typical sensationalism to bring attention to an issue i.e. the preservation of certain endangered owl species.
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Hedwig dies in the 7th book but it’s not by ceremonial ritual.
Preposterous! Harry Potter is a wizard - not a witch!
Anybody check the owl population in Massachusetts lately?
I blame all the spicy owl wing restaurants.
At last ... a cause of action against J.K. Rowling. The only question is, do you bring the case in India, or in California to maximize the chance of a fruits and nuts jury?
Nice...uh...wings.
“And then they realized that they make absolutely terrible pets and then they became sacrifices.”
While I can’t speak about other kinds of owls, the screech owl that we had for a pet when I was a kid was terrific. (We got him as a fledgling — he had a club foot and kept falling out of the nest, so we kept him and raised him.) Little “Who” was verrrrry smart, extremely affectionate, opinionated, funny, and fond of Bach on the organ. He was very musically inclined in general, actually — he sang with me whenever I sang around the house — though he couldn’t stand acid rock. (He would shake his head and click his beak until the offending music was turned off.) He lived to be 17 years old, much longer than screech owls live in the wild. I’ve often thought it a shame that they can’t somehow be cultivated as pets.
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