Posted by Jonathan Labaree on August 11, 2003 at 21:27:58 from 207.5.234.19 user JLabaree.
In Reply to: Conservation of Environment posted by Ed Kiser on August 11, 2003 at 15:49:07:
Animal rights is among the more recent branches of conservation ethics (itself a relatively new field). Remember that until very recently naturalists collected eggs and skins of species to study them in the lab. Some of the first and most committed conservationists were sportsmen/women (still are).
I suspect that most of us who consider ourselves conservationists find it far easier to develop a conservation ethic around a known quantity, such as the coot or loon. We grow attached to seeing these animals and feel their presence reflects the health of our own community. The Coots love the Broads and caring about coots is a natural extension of that love. The Hullabaloos don’t share that regard for the Broads and therefore can’t understand why anyone would care two hoots for coots.
Great Northern? deals with a powerful force in conservation – rarity. Divers are not representative of that landscape. But that’s exactly what makes them so special. It’s why Jemmerling wants to collect them. The vast majority of effort in the conservation field focuses on protecting rare things. That’s partly because we find them more interesting and partly because by protecting rare things, we also protect a lot of other stuff that aren’t as appealing to non-scientists.
While a conservation ethic was developing in Britain during Ransome’s time, it was focused primarily on species and landscapes at home. Places like the African “jungle” were thought to be endless and the animals in them beyond threat of extinction. With the combination of not being familiar with the landscape and no sense of the rarity of these animals, it is perfectly natural that Ransome and his characters did not see the conservation implication of gathering pets from wild animals in far-off places. In addition it’s quite conceivable that Ransome didn’t know you had to kill the parents to get a baby monkey (I didn’t know that).