tagging experiment

[Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer]

Canada is about 30 years behind the USA in endangered species legislation,
and general conservation of biodiversity. Canada has however placed the
Monarch on the list of "Vulnerable" species, in part because of poor
conservation measures in Mexico and USA (as well as Canada).

It was my uncle, Richard Guppy (deceased 1980), who reported the tagged
Monarch in Victoria. He had no part in the release of the eastern Monarchs
at Gibsons, but in anycase that long ago no one had any concerns with
transferring butterflies. Knowledge has advanced somewhat since then.

-----Original Message-----
From: Paul Cherubini <cherubini at mindspring.com>
To: leps-l at lists.yale.edu <leps-l at lists.yale.edu>
Date: January 15, 2000 1:34 PM
Subject: Re: tagging experiment


>Cris Guppy & Aud Fischer wrote:
>>
>> You have signficant ethical, not to mention legal problems. It is people
>> like you that give a bad name to "amateur" science. I hope the USDA comes
>> after you. Furthermore, why should anyone pay any attention to your data?
>> Since you will happily break the law to prove your point, I assume you
will
>> also falsify data.
>
>The tag numbers of all the butterflies involved in the experiment have
>been posted at http://www.butterflyboutique.net/ibba_test. So as tagged
>monarchs are recovered by scientists in Mexico and California during the
course
>of this winter, everyone will know ahead of time what tag numbers
>were used at different locations. This eliminates any chance to falsify
data.
>
>Many years ago you reported (In the News of the Lep Society) that
>someone had found a tagged monarch in Victoria, British Columbia.
>It was one of 982 tagged monarchs that had been air mailed to
>Gibson's Landing, British Columbia for release from Toronto, Ontario
>by Donald Davis. There are no laws in Canada prohibiting the transfer of
>monarchs across the Rockies.
>
>Laws prohibiting the interstate transport of ANY butterfly in the USA have
>been on the books for more than a decade. But a good number of people on
>this list have violated those laws because they are not aware of them and
>USDA has not enforced them (except of course for endangered species).
>
>Ironically, the scientist at the USDA  (Dr. Wayne F. Wehling) currently in
>charge of administering interstate shipping permits was himself involved in
>an unpermitted release of 300 tagged California monarchs I sent to him back
>in Sept. 1990, when he was a student at Washington State University,
>Pullman, WA
>
>Paul Cherubini, Placerville, California
>
>