Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Harry Potter Blamed For India's Disappearing Owls

Posted by samzenpus on from the even-muggles-want-one dept.

GillBates0 writes "Indian Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blamed fans of Harry Potter for the demise of wild owls in the country as children seek to emulate the boy wizard by taking the birds as pets. 'Following Harry Potter, there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls,' Ramesh said Wednesday, according to comments reported by the BBC."

5 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Right... by fieldstone · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Yes, clearly the problem is Harry Potter rather than lousy parenting. If a child wants something that's both impractical and could be damaging to the ecosystem, a responsible parent says, "I'm sorry, but you can't have that." Real children are a lot more reasonable than Veruca Salt. And seriously, I'm amazed no one has made the comparison with baby alligators yet.

  2. That's a strange fascination? by discord2000 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Surely defanging a cobra and sewing its mouth closed so your baby can play with it is stranger.... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OR--0zJoIs

  3. Owls Make Terrible Pets by CodeBuster · · Score: 4, Interesting

    These people are going to find out rather quickly why owls are among the worst possible animals to keep as pets.

  4. 'Jaws' effect... by VinylRecords · · Score: 2, Interesting

    http://www.orlandosentinel.com/fl-endangered-sharks-20101030,0,1055241.story

    This happened with sharks after Jaws and continues to this very day. The original author of Jaws, Peter Benchley, said that he regretted writing the novel and the creation of the film because it lead to the mass killing of so many species of sharks.

    http://www.monstersandcritics.com/books/news/article_1097132.php/Peter_Benchley_author_of_Jaws_dies_at_65

  5. Re:catch a wild bird? by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Have you seen how rabid Harry Potter fans can be?

    Can't say I have. Certainly not as crazy as the Dr Who fans anyway.

    I know, right? The last Daleks were sacrificed when the new Dr. Who series was launched, and they had just started breeding successfully in captivity!