FreeLists / va-richmond-general / [va-richmond-general] Re: More on the ill-fated Dutch "domino Sparrow"

["Jim Blowers" <jimvb@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Interesting follow-up on this sparrow-domino story. What I find interesting
is that this story says that this sparrow "was placed on the endangered
species list last year", and this article

 

http://www.nabluebirdsociety.org/sparrow.htm

 

says that "House Sparrows are the most abundant songbirds in North America
and the most widely distributed birds on the planet." These two articles
imply that the most widely distributed bird species on this planet is an
endangered species. Does that remind you of the passenger pigeon?

 

Or you can make the reasonable assumption that any species that is less
common than an endangered species is itself an endangered species. This
implies that ALL bird species on this planet are endangered.

 

Jim Blowers

 

 

 

  _____  

From: va-richmond-general-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:va-richmond-general-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of IE Ries
Sent: Saturday, 2005 December 10 08:14
To: RAS
Subject: [va-richmond-general] More on the ill-fated Dutch "domino Sparrow"

 

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20051209/ap_on_fe_st/netherlands_domino_bird

 

  


Domino-Busting Sparrow Gets Spot in Museum 


By TOBY STERLING, Associated Press Writer Fri Dec 9, 5:27 PM ET 

AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - A sparrow that knocked over 23,000 dominoes and
almost derailed a world record attempt before being shot dead will be
enshrined in the Rotterdam Natural History Museum, the museum said Friday. 

The ill-fated bird flew into an exposition center on Nov. 14 and began
knocking over tiles that were being set up for "Domino Day" television
program before it was killed by an exterminator with an air rifle at the
urging of panicked organizers.

The shooting was seen by many as an overreaction, and caused a furor. A Web
site was erected in honor of the bird; animal rights groups condemned the
killing; and prosecutors opened a formal investigation.

"This sparrow has moved so many people," museum curator Kees Moeliker said.
"This was really a high point of Dutch culture, I say with a wink. This was
the Netherlands at its smallest."

He said the bird had been kept in a freezer at the Ministry of Justice,
after its killing became a criminal matter.

Shortly after the shooting, it emerged that the bird was a house sparrow - a
species that, in a strange twist, was placed on the national endangered list
last year. Killing one without a permit is illegal.

Although common, the house sparrow's numbers have fallen by more than 50
percent in the past 20 years due to human encroachment on their habitat.

On Friday, public prosecutors in The Hague
<http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=The+Hague>  issued a euro200
($235) fine to the exterminator who killed the bird.

"As a professional, he should have known better," they said in a statement.

Moeliker said the bird would now be either stuffed or preserved in alcohol,
depending on the condition of its corpse. It is scheduled to go on display
as part of an exhibition on sparrows at the end of next year, he said.

The bird will be placed "on top of a box of dominoes, which seems
appropriate," he said.

Organizers of Domino Day argued the killing was justified, given that more
than 100 people had worked for a month setting up the tiles.

But they held a brief memorial for the bird before the show on Nov. 18, and
went on to topple around 4,002,136 tiles, claiming a new record though it
has not yet been verified by Guinness World Records.

They initially said they had knocked down 4.1 million, but that was called
into doubt by Dutch media after video replays showed a volunteer possibly
cheating in order to help a chain keep going at one point.

Organizers discounted the dominoes in that particular segment of the chain,
but said they had still beaten their own previous record of 3,992,397, which
is approved by Guinness.

___

"Panicked organizers?"  If playing dominos prevents you from taking a deep
breath and respecting innocent life, you have a problem!

 


 
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