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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."

23 of 252 comments (clear)

  1. Diwali by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Right, and it absolutely, positively has nothing to do with diwali. Move along, move along. Blame Harry Potter!

    1. Re:Diwali by somersault · · Score: 2

      This should be in the summary :/ +1,000,000 insightful.

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      which is totally what she said
    2. Re:Diwali by Culture20 · · Score: 2, Funny

      Right, and it absolutely, positively has nothing to do with diwali. Move along, move along. Blame Harry Potter!

      Sacrificing a species into extinction... Did India learn nothing from the Ilwrath?

  2. Uh... oooookay... by fieldstone · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm amazed to be the first saying this, but clearly the problem here is not Harry Potter, it's parents who aren't willing or able to tell their children "no". An owl is not a pet.

  3. 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.

  4. Why is no one asking thse questions? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Funny

    What if it is actually the demise of the wild owl that causes the popularity of Harry Potter?

  5. Isn't it illegal.... by mark-t · · Score: 3, Insightful

    ... to have an owl as a pet in the first place?

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    File under 'M' for 'Manic ranting'
  6. Owls in India by seyyah · · Score: 2, Funny

    ... there seems to be a strange fascination even among the urban middle classes for presenting their children with owls ...

    Hoo knew?

  7. OMG. by koolfy · · Score: 2, Funny

    Owl my god.

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    Segmentation Fault in "Life, Universe and Everything" at line 42. Don't Panic.
  8. 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

  9. 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.

  10. '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

  11. Ah by Reilaos · · Score: 2, Informative

    But is anything to blame for Slashdot's disappearing comments?

  12. Easy fix by Rosco+P.+Coltrane · · Score: 4, Funny

    The next Harry Potter (or other such insanely popular movie) should feature wild killer possums with rabies as pets. That should take care of the problem.

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    "A door is what a dog is perpetually on the wrong side of" - Ogden Nash
    1. Re:Easy fix by cnaumann · · Score: 4, Informative

      Possums are one of the few wild mammals that really don't carry rabies. Being slashdot I felt obligated to point that out.

  13. Change the animal... by AdeBaumann · · Score: 3, Funny

    Maybe JK Rowling can write another book that has Harry ditch his owl for an alligator. Bam - Problem solved.

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    I gave up sigs almost a year ago.
  14. Stupid title by _merlin · · Score: 2, Informative

    They aren't blaming the fictional Harry Potter for the demise of the owls - they're blaming fanbois. I'm sure everyone here on Slashdot can empathise with blaming ills on fanbois.

  15. First post! by xaxa · · Score: 2, Funny

    Delivered by owl

  16. Re:Those are some fast children by somersault · · Score: 2, Funny

    How could you not even make it to reading the whole of the summary?

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    which is totally what she said
  17. Yes by fantomas · · Score: 3, Informative

    Yes. "Hunting of and trade in all Indian owl species is banned under the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972."

  18. It takes a special kind of stupidity by hey! · · Score: 3, Insightful

    to voluntarily lodge a nocturnal killing machine in your own home.

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    Post may contain irony: discontinue use if experiencing mood swings, nausea or elevated blood pressure.
  19. 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!

  20. My first impression: by arielCo · · Score: 3, Funny

    O RLY?

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    This post contains no rudeness or derision of any kind. All arguments are friendly. Terms and exclusions may apply.