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What do you guys think about ?
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by BigBend66 on September 28, 2008
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Collecting extremely rare almost nonexistant reptiles and amphibians, euthanizing them for study and taking them back to cali for exibits. I am talking about Joe Slovinski and his methods of science. Seems like he could take clippings for DNA and many photos rather than kill a species of turtle that is thought to extinct. That is not the kid of cnservation that I care for. I noticed as I read the book that Joe didn't actually care for the snakes he caught but cared more for the science of them . Even as a student he was quite brutal with snakes. Did any of you notice that when you read the book?
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RE: What do you guys think about ?
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by Chance on September 28, 2008
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Unfortunately, euthanasia and preservation is a very necessary component of real herpetology (not to be confused with herpetoculture). Herpetologists, taxonomists, geneticists, wildlife biologists, etc. can use preserved specimens for many years of study that simply wouldn't be possible by observing living specimens or looking at pictures.
This same debate has been hashed out a few times on the SnakesOfArkansas website, and probably here as well, so I wouldn't be too surprised if this thread turns lengthy.
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RE: What do you guys think about ?
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by theemojohnm on September 28, 2008
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Now I know there are many opinions of Joe Slowinski, and for many reasons. I have mixed feelings about what he did. Books only tell how the author portrays his actions, for good or bad.
I am always first in favor of the museums, universities, etc, studying living animals so as to not damage wild populations and unnecessarily kill individual animals.
However, in some cases, it is obvious it just has to be done. Maybe Joe did some unnecessary things, but did contribute some valuable data to science. Perhaps now that his findings are known, others can learn and research from that, and native populations of endangered animals will not be at risk from museum collections, etc.
Take Care.
~John.
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RE: What do you guys think about ?
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by LarryDFishel on September 28, 2008
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Part of it is simply the way institutionalized science works. In biology, you gain a lot of prestige by discovering new species. Unfortunately, you're not formaly credited with discovering one unless you submit a preserved specimen...
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by KenoshaMark on September 29, 2008
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If we condemn the practice of collecting specimens for DNA and euthanizing them for identification and comparison purposes, don't we also have to condemn anyone who tries to keep rare and hard to keep in captivity snakes? I'm quite sure that far more snakes die accidentally during procurement by those who want to keep snakes alive in captivity.
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RE: What do you guys think about ?
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by BigBend66 on September 29, 2008
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Just the more I read the book, the more I was bothered by his recklessness. I am glad he didn't decide to become a ZOOlogist before science.. LOL
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RE: What do you guys think about ?
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by KenoshaMark on September 29, 2008
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Yeah, I read The Snake Charmer and also felt he was too reckless but I wonder if that may have been exaggerated to make the book more interesting.
However, I just got done reading Kate Jackson's (not THAT Kate Jackson!) book, Mean and Lowly Things, and she is guilty of many of the same lapses in judgment: drinking alcohol, getting distracted, not treating every snake as venomous until it has been positively identified and not getting enough sleep to be able to focus adequately on the work at hand. Granted it's hard to sleep comfortably in such primitive conditions but I thought she should have outfitted better for her campsites.
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by FLherp on September 30, 2008
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The practice of euthanizing and preserving animals is a standard practice for collection of specimens for museums. If you ever have a chance to see the museum collections that are not displayed it can be an eye-opener; the American Museum of Natural History and the Smithsonian both have enormous collections of preserved specimens. The entire specimen is best, not just a DNA sample, as it allows researchers who cannot travel to the field to examine them. Molecular phylogeny or systematics is used in addition to standard phylogenetic studies. These collections contain many things other than snakes, they were initially intended to have representatives of most of the flora and fauna of the earth and they evolved from private collections of wealthy individuals or families and were displayed as curiosities, with occasional public access (for the more respectable collections).
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