Saving owls

By ⋅ November 17, 2010 ⋅ Post a comment
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Harry Potter's Hedwig is a Snowy Owl

Today’s Geo Quiz is about owls: the country we want you to name is home to some 30 species of owl. And many of those species are under threat from an illegal trade in the wild birds.

Some owls are used by practitioners of sorcery, or “black magic” but the country’s environment minister has identified another problem. He’s blaming fans of Harry Potter for fueling the illegal trade.

Apparently, some parents in this country are buying owls for their children, as gifts at Harry Potter-themed birthday parties. Harry’s snowy owl, Hedwig, would be alarmed.

So, can you name the country where a government minister is pointing an accusatory finger at the boy wizard?

Geo Answer:

The answer is India, where Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh is blaming fans of Harry Potter for their role in endangering India’s wild owl population. Anchor Lisa Mullins finds out more from Samir Sinha, the head of Traffic International, a wildlife trade monitoring network.

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Discussion

One comment for “Saving owls”

  • Dell Hood

    Lisa Mullins missed the opportunity to point out to the Indian bird conservation specialist that the problem is not with the Harry Potter stories and their use of owls. Millions of North Americans and Europeans have followed and loved these stories for a decade and have not resorted to capturing wild owls. Rather the problem would seem to be an inability on the part of some Indians to keep entertaining fiction separate from reality. This official should concentrate on educating the Indian public about the need to protect owls, instead of castigating Harry Potter stories and trying to limit their exposure in India.