Paranoia?

[Paul Cherubini]

Hank wrote:

> All I can say is it would be wonderful if some of you would get a life.
> Let the collectors collect.  Let the watchers watch. 

Hank, your leader at NABA, Mr. Glassberg is not content to let everyone
be free to pursue their enjoyment of butterflies.  He is going on a
radio talk show tomorrow to blast butterfly breeders and releasers. He continues
to contact the press to get them to write frightening articles about 
butterfly breeders and releasers: An article appeared just 2 days ago in the 
Washington Times which states: "NABA has declared war on the practice 
[butterfly releases]  Below are parts of that article:

Butterfly Protectors Try To Bar Profitable Flights  

By Jennifer Harper
THE WASHINGTON TIMES
June 13, 2001

All of this has not sat well with the North American Butterfly Association 
(NABA), which has declared war on the practice and upon the International 
Butterfly Breeders Association, a trade group. NABA has posted horror stories
of dead, stunned or injured butterflies tumbling from their origami envelopes and 
beribboned boxes at its Web site ( www.naba.org ). 

In a joint statement, NABA members, along with representatives from the 
Smithsonian Institution, the Audubon and Lepidopterist´s societies, have 
condemned the idea, calling it the "dark side" of butterfly popularity and a form
 of environmental pollution."There is something ethically wrong with treating 
butterflies as if they were mere playthings for humans," the group noted. They
 can arrive "dead or dying," suffer in a hostile environment,
disrupt natural migration patterns, carry disease and otherwise threaten the 
neighborhood butterflies. In addition, butterfly "poaching" has become common
in certain areas of the Southwest and in Mexico.

 Nonsense, counters the breeder´s association, which calls the claims "extremist" and 
offers a point-by-point deconstruction of NABA´s ideas at its own Web site
(www.butterflybreeders.org).   "The release of butterflies at special events increases 
public awareness of the  magnificence of this insect," the group says, adding that 
NABA "cannot cite one documented case of a shipment of commercially raised 
butterflies carrying and transmitting any disease to the wild population."

 Though many of their members offer fancy white cages and engraved 
envelopes to hold the living butterflies, the breeder´s group has a code of ethics
that forbids members from shipping wild butterflies to inclement climates and 
urges them to "ensure the well-being and safety of the livestock."

They also claim a higher calling. "The release of butterflies at funerals, 
weddings and other events is a very worthwhile, spiritual and emotional 
experience," the breeder´s group advises. "It is not looked upon as playing with toys."

"I don´t believe we´ll ever be able to raise enough butterflies in captivity to match 
annually the number of butterflies killed by cars," suggested one Florida dealer. 
"I respect people´s opinions, but the more people that recognize butterflies, the more 
respect for the wild population."

 
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