Dear Professor Fjeldså
In your recent correspondence regarding Illadopsis to the tanzaniabirds group, I noted the very unfortunate news that you and Rauri Bowie are planning to 're-start various projects' in the forests of Tanzania.
Does this means that 100s (1000s?) more
forest birds, the vast majority of which are already under a massive threat from habitat loss, are likely to be slaughtered in the name of your brand of
science? I hope you don't feel I'm being over dramatic about the issue
but do you REALLY need more specimens from yet MORE 'collecting efforts'?
I've always
considered the Danes to be such brilliant and advanced thinkers and so it staggers me
that such archaic practices are still going on. Is there a slim chance that you might be persuaded to develop a more
forward-thinking approach and capture images of netted birds for reference, and
feathers for DNA sampling at some stage, as so many other forward-thinking ornithologists already do?
My query stems from first-hand reports from genuine conservationists working in
Tanzania who have been appalled to see the many boxes of specimens killed by you, Bowie, Kiure, et al. over the years. How can we ever hope to tackle the devastating bird
slaughter in Malta and the Middle East while enquiring minds like yours
are clearing the East African forests of its threatened avifauna?
Unless you have no objection to the bird slaughter in the Mediterranean, surely this is nothing short of double standards on your part?
Yours in anticipation,
Adam Scott Kennedy