Friday, April 25, 2014

Stunningly Stupid

... even for "Reality" TV. Paul Domski writes: "The Discovery Channel has a program called "Naked and Afraid" where they send people to exotic places with no clothes or food and watch them as make their living, what a thrill right?  Anyway a recent episode shot in Bolivia featured this A-hole apparently killing and roasting a Bat falcon.  There are a whole host of people speaking out against the Discovery Channel, with internet campaigns springing up on several online venues."

Here is a link to their ethics department.

Does it matter that it is a Bat falcon? Well, yeah-- I expect that there are a hell of a lot of things easier to catch and better to eat than a five ounce, declining, beautiful, and illegal falcon, and that they just did it for the gross- out factor. This is especially insulting when hunters of legal game are losing their shows on other networks and being insulted on National Geographic.



5 comments:

Moro Rogers said...

Dude, it was him or the falcon!...or the cameraman...

Steve Bodio said...

Don't you love it when he and other fools are supposedly alone in the wilderness, in dire straits-- and then you remember the camera crew....

Anonymous said...

Hey, how do you know that camera crew is not nekkid too, and starving and barely able to film?.... And as for being upset by people killing animals for whatever reason(I suppose some people might consider a "survivor" experience like this, or viewing it, to be some kind of "sport"), we ALL have a tendency to not like seeing critters we've personally had close relationships with killed for anything except dire necessity--me with wolves and cougars(and an Arkload of other critters), you, Steve, with falcons, etc., Derek Joubert with his lions and elephants. A very human(if contradictory) characteristic to be loyal to your "own".....L.B.

Karen Carroll said...

This is creating a huge response from the falconry and bird of prey community.
I wrote this letter on their blog:

Discovery Channel
Discovery Communications,
LLC1 Discovery Place
Silver Spring, MD 20910
Viewer Relations: (800) 398-6395

http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/viewer-relations/

http://corporate.discovery.com/contact/ethics-hotline/

http://corporate.discovery.com/blog/contact-us/

Date: April 25, 2014.

RE: Naked and Afraid, Broadcast Date, Monday, April. 22, 2014.

I am a licensed falconer in the United States, practicing falconry since 1974.

Regarding the program “Naked and Afraid”. I am not a viewer of reality shows, the idiocy of the shows I find frustrating to watch. But on a falconry discussion site this was brought to my attention. There is an episode where the characters kill (choke) to death, pluck, cook and eat a falcon. The falcon is either a bat or orange-breasted falcon, an adult bird (judging from the plumage, color of the cere (nostrils) and feet of the bird); it is NOT a fledgling. This is a bird that is an endangered/protected species in Bolivia and is protected under CITES (Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) as well. To learn more go here: www.allaboutbirds.org. I am a hunter. But, to show the killing of a protected/endangered species for ratings and entertainment is repugnant and disgusting. You need to stop such ‘reality’ entertainment and instead put your revenues toward the teaching the wise use of our natural resources, habitat conservation, wildlife captive breeding and release programs. Not showing this tripe that you call programming.

As part of your field crew, a trained natural field biologist needs to be on the staff as a consultant to stop the exploitation of wildlife and wild places in the areas where the episodes are taped. I, and others also expect that ALL of the monies that you have made from this program (including advertising revenues) need to go to conservation programs in the countries that they are filmed. The Peregrine Fund is well established and respected world wide in teaching local citizens the value of saving their natural habitats and the wildlife contained there. www.peregrinefund.org. Their model would be a good one to follow.

Sincerely,

Kitty Tolson Carroll

Master and Eagle Class Falconer.

It is on www.nafex.net and www.falconryforum.co.uk
as well as NAFA.




Karen Carroll said...

Causing a big reaction in the falconry community as well. I've written on their blog. I have written them as well.