From the Department of Unintended Consequences: One Dead Rhino

It looked so good on paper: put poison in a rare rhinoceros, to discourage poachers.

Just one problem: now the rhino is dead. It wasn't the poison, though.

Oops!

"Bungled conservation effort kills South African rhino"
Reuters (February 9, 2012)

"A group of animal conservationists in South Africa accidentally killed a rhinoceros they were attempting to make safe from poachers in a botched public relations event.

"Spencer the rhino went into convulsions and died after he was shot with a tranquilizer dart in front of a crush of TV cameras and photographers who had been invited to document an operation to insert a poison capsule into his horn....

"...'The rhino had an unfortunate reaction to the anesthesia,' Rhino Rescue Project spokeswoman Lorinda Hern said. 'Every time you dart a rhino, you take a risk that the rhino might not wake up and unfortunately today was one of those days.'

"Conservation groups insert poison capsules into the horns of rhinos, which release poison into the horn when it is removed from the animal and are meant to render the horn value-less for hunters seeking to sell it on for use in traditional medicine...."

Maybe it makes sense to spike a rare rhino's horn. Maybe:

• The odds of killing the rhino are fairly low
• Most poachers will
  • Know about the poison pill
  • Care about selling poisoned rhino horn
• Rhino horn buyers will
  • Know about the poison pill
  • Care about buying poisoned rhino horn

That's a lot of 'maybes.'

In the Lemming's opinion, folks running the Rhino Rescue Project are putting a lot of faith in the humanitarian impulses of poachers, and the ethical standards of drug smugglers dealers in illegal animal parts.

Living in the Real World

In an ideal world, people wouldn't put rat poo in peanut butter, or sell toxic toys. But this isn't an ideal world:

• "Peanut Peril: Remembering"
  (February 26, 2009)
• "Lots of Lead and Cadmium in Kids' Tableware: Spiffy"
  (November 22, 2010)
• "China: Toxic Toys and Dubious Dumplings Aren't Signs of Terrorism"
  Another War-on-Terror Blog (January 30, 2008)

So what's the big deal about rhinoceros horn? Quite a few folks seem convinced that the stuff cures just about everything:

• "Rhino horn: All myth, no medicine"
  David Braun, National Geographic (July 7, 2010)

Sort of like snake oil: except that a (genuinely) endangered species might go extinct.

The Lemming hopes that enough folks in Asia will take another look at their equivalent of high-octane patent medicines: and decide to stop contributing to the extinction of an odd sort of critter.

Or - here's an idea - maybe someone in South Africa will come up with a marketable substitute for rhino horn. The country raises beef, poultry, and sheep - apparently for local consumption. Maybe byproducts that aren't getting used now, like bone, could be turned into an exportable commodity.

Or maybe the Lemming's too optimistic, or pessimistic, about marketing and gullibility. And that's another topic.

Related (?) posts:

• "New York City, Stray Cats, Shag, and Sense"
  (December 28, 2011)
• "Save the - Goldfish?!"
  (June 16, 2011)
• "February 14th: Horned Lizard Day"
  (February 11, 2011)
• "Radioactive Pigs Attack Germany - No, Really"
  (August 4, 2010)
• "Mice Feel Pain (We knew That) - And Show it Like We do ("No One" Knew That)"
  (May 11, 2010)

Record Mosquito Catch in Taiwan

"Taiwanese woman catches 4 million mosquitoes"
Breitbart (August 2, 2010)

"A Taiwanese woman has taken a sizeable bite out of Taiwan's mosquito population, and won a 3,000 US dollar cash prize, by catching around 4 million of the bloodsuckers in just one month.

"Huang Yu-yen, from southern Taiwan's Yunlin county, beat 72 rivals with a catch weighing in at more than 1.5 kilogrammes (3lbs 5oz), competition organisers Imbictus International, a company that makes insect traps, said...."

Over three and a quarter pounds? That's a lot of mosquitoes! Nice to know that Minnesota isn't the only place - blessed? - with such pests.

The article points out, on a more serious note, that mosquitoes have been a serious health problem in Taiwan, until a mid-sixties eradication program. And that they still carry dengue fever: definitely not by popular demand.

Pangolins: Anteaters From Another Planet?

"Species: ADORABLE."
Daily Squee (April 30, 2010)

"There comes a point in every blogger's life where he has to admit that his commenters are smarter than him. I'm giving up. You guys? What is this thing?..."


(from Daily Squee, used w/o permission)

The first two folks to leave a comment got it right: it's a pangolin.

Pangolins: They're Endangered, of Course

Unlike bats, cats, gnats, and rats: Pangolins are endangered. And, of course, there's at least one 'save the pangolins' organization. Probably more than one. Throw a sustainable rock these days, and you're likely to hit some 'Save the [whatever]' outfit. Not that I'd throw a rock, sustainable or otherwise, unless I was really sure where it would land.

SavePangolins.org, by the way, seems to have a point: there's a brisk demand for pangolin parts in China; and some folks in southeast Asia are willing to deal in contraband pangolins to supply the demand.

The website includes this paragraph:

"...Little is known about the illegal trade in Asian pangolins other than its alarming scale, which is evidenced by confiscations of shipments seized from the black market of thousands of pangolins. The lack of information about the trade makes combating it that much more challenging...."
("Threats," SavePangolins.org)

One of those shipments was pretty big:

• " 'Noah's Ark' of 5,000 rare animals found floating off the coast of China"
  guardian.co.uk (May 26, 2007)

That wasn't 5,000 pangolins, by the way. The ship carried pangolins, Asian giant turtles and lizards.

No Pangolins in Minnesota: But This isn't All That Off-Topic

I don't think that uncontrolled hunting is a good idea, by the way. I live in central Minnesota, where the gray wolf population is managed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Good thing, too: Gray wolves were in trouble a few years back. (Back in the 19th century, it seemed like a good idea to exterminate wolves. They eat deer - and, more to the point, livestock. Then we noticed that we were up to our hips in deer. You get the picture.)

Back to the Imperiled Pangolin

My ears pricked up when I read: "The lack of information about the trade makes combating it that much more challenging." It's 'way too easy to read that as 'we don't know much about this, but we're sure it must be really bad because it must be a crisis.'¹

Well, the pangolins could really be in trouble.

Apparently nobody's thought of raising the things as livestock. My guess is that the first person to figure out how to do so without getting hit by every wildlife PAC on the planet will make a fortune - and save wild pangolins by outproducing and underpricing the hunters and smugglers.

We might wind up having as many pangolins as we do pigs: which might be extinct by now, if we didn't raise the things for - just about everything. Some wit said that the pig industry sells "everything but the scream."

The Pangolin: What Planet is That From?

Despite appearances, the Pangolin is native to Earth. Those scales are made of keratin, just like our hair and fingernails. Only different.

If you think a pangolin looks like an anteater, you're right. Sort of. I mean, it doesn't look like Myrmecophaga tridactyla. But it does: in overall shape.

And, in a generic sense, pangolins are anteaters. They eat termites, too.

And have very sharp scales: which tends to discourage predators. I mean to say: there's got to be a meal that's easier to get at, than a rolled-up pangolin.

Which reminds me: I found a video. Two, actually.

"Scaly Pangolin in Kalahari Desert"

uitspan, YouTube (November 06, 2006)
video, 0:58

"Get detailed info on http://www.kalahari-trophy-hunting.co...
This pangolin is quite scarce, even in the Kalahari. This video shows how it wraps itself when danger is near and how it moves off."

This video reminds me of home movies, without narration.

"pangolin"

sonefe67, YouTube (October 26, 2007)
video, 2:19

"a very interesting armored animal"

A more polished, and rather old-style, micro-documentary.

Almost-related posts:

• "Cryptochrome and Birds With Quantum Eyes"
  (May 2, 2010)
• "Your Daily Adult Requirement of Cute: A Pygmy Slow Loris"
  (April 21, 2010)
• "Lemming Tracks: Whales, Business, and Hating Japan"
  (April 19, 2010)
• "The Dik-Dik: Cute Little Antelopes With Weird Noses"
  (April 9, 2010)

More (than you may want to know) about Pangolins:

• "Pangolin"
  African Wildlife Foundation
• "Pangolin"
  Enchanted Learning
• "Pangolins"
  Encounter South Africa
• "Pangolin"
  Thailand (2001). [Online], Available: www.kidcyber.com.au
• "Proceedings of the Workshop on Trade nad Conservation of Pangolins Native to South and Southeast Asia" (*.pdf)
  Edited by S. Pantel and S. Y. Chin, Singapore Zoo (June 30 - July 2, 2008)
• SavePangolins.org
  • Yet another earnest organization
  • The Lemming has not researched them
    • If you want to donate: practice due diligence
  • The website
    • Is well-designed
    • Informs
    • Uses words like "rampant"

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A tip of the hat to irish_brigid, on Twitter, for the heads-up on that baby pangolin photo.

¹ I remember the dying gasps of McCarthyism (think Frank Burns, in television's M*A*S*H), when some terribly earnest folks were sure that the commies were behind what they didn't like: because there was no evidence to speak of. To them, that proved that a conspiracy was covering up the evidence. You can't argue with logic like that.

So, I get a little skeptical, fast, when folks say they don't have much information, but are sure there's a great crisis.

An Asian-Italian Dish for Busy People, From Idaho: Now That's American!

"Fast Easy Fried Asian Vermicelli (Bee Hoon)"
vishali, Notecook (December 3, 2009)

"This Authentic Fried Asian Vermicelli recipe is a time saver for busy people.
Fried Asian Vermicelli can be prepared and served in 15 mins!

"I am very keen in cooking. I love trying new recipes and improvising them. I especially like to experiment ways to prepare and cook them faster. Many of the traditional Asian recipes are tedious and time consuming. Whenever I look at mouth watering recipes online, I would be tempted to try but the long tedious process would put me off. Then I would scrutinise[!] the recipe to see where I can take a short cut or maybe simplify or omit a step. While attempting to improvise recopies, I will always try to retain the original flavour.

"This Fast Easy Asian Vermicelli is one of my short cut recipes...."

What follows is a five-ingredient, seven-step recipe so easy, I'd find no trouble following it. (Intricate cuisine isn't my forte.)

Also, a video on how to stir-fry pork.

I enjoy seeing what cultures around the world have come up with, but I like American cookery, too. And I think this qualifies: "...a time saver for busy people..."? A priest who spent quite a bit of time elsewhere said that not doing enough wasn't - to put it mildly - a typically American problem.

Anyway, vishali lives in Idaho - that's the state that keeps Montana from bumping into Washington state.

And, the way I see it, America isn't so much a melting pot as a crazy quilt. The result isn't nicely consistent; but I like the variety, the different textures, and the wild pattern.

Back to that recipe: vishali must have people with my cooking skills in mind. The seventh step starts with "Taste."

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A tip of the hat to williamcooks, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this recipe.

Very Long Solar Eclipse In Progress

An unusually long eclipse of the sun is in progress, sweeping across Asia. Scientists are hoping to learn more about the sun's corona, as the extremely bright surface of the sun is hidden by the moon.

"Scientists track eclipse from aircraft, conduct tests"
Press Trust of India (July 22, 2009)

"Solar eclipse trackers on the ground were not be the only ones studying the spectacle as the Indian Air Force (IAF) and astrophysicists conducted experiments and filmed the celestial event from a fighter jet and a transport aircraft...."

Quite a few people who aren't scientists are interested, too, for a variety of reasons.

"Darkness falls in Asia during total eclipse, luring masses"
CNN (July 22, 2009)

"The longest solar eclipse of the century cast a wide shadow for several minutes over Asia and the Pacific Ocean Wednesday, luring throngs of people outside to watch the spectacle....

"...In India, where an eclipse pits science against superstition, thousands took a dip in the Ganges River in the Hindu holy city of Varanasi to cleanse their souls, said Ajay Kumar Upadhyay, the district's most senior official. Send us your photos of the eclipse

"The ritual turned into tragedy when an 80-year-old woman died and eight others were injured in what was called a stampede in some media reports. Upadhyay called the incident a "commotion" during sacred rituals in Varanasi...."

I was struck by the mildly archaic language of the CNN article: "masses" being lured; "pits science against superstition" - but the article is still a pretty good overview of how people who live in Asia, and those who traveled there for the eclipse, are reacting to the event.

"Cautiously, Chinese try creative ways to watch rare solar eclipse"
Xinhua (July 22, 2009)

"As a rare six-minute total solar eclipse fell across Asia Wednesday morning, ordinary Chinese tried creative ways to watch the phenomenon without damaging their eyes.

"Though many ideal observation spots were under rain or clouds, days of heavy media coverage had fanned public curiosity....

"...Liu Guifang, 52, who works for a cosmetics company in the southern suburbs of Shanghai, held two pieces of paper parallel about a meter apart, and poked a tiny hole with a diameter of around 2 millimeters in one."

"She could then look at the reflection of the eclipse on the other piece, which made the solar rays much weaker...."

That's the only place I've seen a 'pinhole projector' described in news media discussing this eclipse - and the technique works. I've found that the hole can be much smaller than the two millimeters described here, and still work. The projection of the sun's image is a little less bright, but distinctly clearer. The trick is to make the hole as smooth and circular as possible.

"Solar eclipse over Pacific today will take small bite of Hawaii sun"
Hawai'i Magazine (July 21, 2009)

"...What does any of this have to do with Hawaii?

"We'll get to experience a tiny part of the huge celestial event when the northernmost edge of the eclipse's shadow moves over the Hawaiian Islands this afternoon creating a partial eclipse.

"Look toward the sun in Hawaii today at about 5:20 p.m. and—if skies are cloud-free—you'll see the moon take a small bite of about 10 percent of the sun...."

The article points out that, it you don't know that eclipse is happening, odds are that you won't notice it. The eclipse will be distinctly 'partial' by the time it gets to Hawaii.

Time Conversion Tables, Eclipse Animation, More

The Hawai'i Magazine article includes this animated graphic, from the NASA Eclipse Web Site, "Solar Eclipses: 2001 - 2010." That animation does a pretty good job of showing where the total eclipse has been - and will be, and the much larger swath where part of the sun will be blocked by the moon.

The page also has tables and links for eclipses through the year 3000, and a link to the World Atlas of Solar Eclipse Paths. Looks like a pretty good resource.

The NASA Eclipse Web Site home page links to data about solar and lunar eclipses, planetary transits, and other Solar system data.

You might find these useful:

• "The current time in (UTC/GMT) is ..."
• "US Naval Observatory Master Clock Time"
  for American time zones

Related post:

• "Very Long Solar Eclipse Coming to Asia"
  (July 21, 2009)

Very Long Solar Eclipse Coming to Asia

Update, 10:30 p.m. Central (Where it's still July 21, 2009)
"Taregna disappoints eclipse watchers"
Press Trust of India (July 22, 2009)

"Cloud cover left thousands of people gathered in Taregna, touted the best place to watch the century's longest total solar eclipse, disappointed today but the momentary darkness that enveloped the town was enough to cheer the onlookers who burst into a collective applause...."

---

"Longest Solar Eclipse of the Twenty-First Century is Tomorrow (Wednesday)"
Wired Geek Dad (July 21, 2009)

"At dawn on Wednesday, July 22nd, in the Gulf of Khambhat just of the coast of India, the sun will rise in an eclipse. The eclipse will last as long as 6 minutes and 39 seconds in some places in the South Pacific. That will make it the longest solar eclipse of the 21st Century. The theoretical maximum length of an eclipse is 7 and a half minutes.

"The Earth is close to its farthest point from the sun. A small sun means the Moon can cover it longer. By lucky coincidence, the Moon will be near its closest point to Earth. A large Moon covers the sun longer, lengthening the duration of the eclipse...."

The relatively brief Wired article has some useful links, including one for SEMS-Sun Earth Moon Systems. That one's particularly interesting to me, since it's the work of scientists from the University of North Dakota, a little north of my home town, who are in China - in hopes of catching the eclipse.

Right now, the page says, "The Next SEMS Webcast Starts: Wednesday, July 22, 2009 00:14:54 UTC" - about 9:54 a.m. here in the Central time zone.

(There's a decent time zone converter at The World Clock – Time Zone Converter, and an automatically updated conversion table showing UTC and U.S.A time in the American time zones at US Naval Observatory Master Clock Time.)

This eclipse is more than just a 'gee whiz' event for astronomers. Eclipses as long as tomorrow's don't happen very often, and for many astronomers this is the only opportunity they'll have for a long time to get data about the area around the sun.

One researcher is looking for waves in the sun's corona, hoping to learn why the area above the more obvious surface of the sun is so hot. (BBC)

BBC and CNN articles gave us a look at the rather complicated culture of India:

"...'We are hoping to make some valuable observations on the formation of asteroids around the sun,' scientist Pankaj Bhama told the Associated Press news agency.

"But pregnant women in India were advised to stay inside, following beliefs that the eclipse could harm a foetus.

" 'My mother and aunts have called and told me stay in a darkened room with the curtains closed, lie in bed and chant prayers,' said Krati Jain, a software worker in New Delhi who is expecting her first child...." (BBC)

I'm not sure whether or not Krati Jain will take the advice of her older relatives.

A CNN article points out that, besides a certain apprehension about the effect of an eclipse on early human development, eclipses are an occasion for alms-giving and prayers. A "remedial astrologer" was quoted, explaining that "...A solar eclipse ... weakens the sun god temporarily because of an encounter with dragon Rahu and leaves some cascading results everywhere...." (CNN)

As I said, we're getting a look at a complicated culture. Very complicated.

In the news:

• "Solar eclipse scares Indian mothers-to-be"
  CNN (July 21, 2009)
• "Asia set for total solar eclipse"
  BBC (July 21, 2009)

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A tip of the hat to markstoneman, on Twitter, for the heads-up on this event.

Indian Spaceship Crashes Into Moon: Right on Schedule

"India Slams Probe into the Moon"
Space.com (November 14, 2008)

"Chandrayaan 1, India's first deep space mission, released its Moon Impact Probe for a suicide nosedive to the lunar surface, it was announced on Friday.

"The probe hit the moon at exactly 8:31 p.m. Indian Standard Time (10:01 a.m. EST), 25 minutes after being released from its carrier spacecraft, run by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), Indian news organizations reported."

Sounds like they got data and pictures from the probe before it hit. The rest of the Indian spacecraft is in orbit around the Moon, collecting more data. None of the data or pictures has been released yet, though.

I'm glad to see that the mission has gone well, so far. India's put quite a bit into the Asian Moon race.

Previous post:

• "Spaceship to the Moon: This One's from India
  (October 22, 2008)

Spaceship to the Moon: This One's from India

There's a 'race to the moon' again: this time in Asia:

"India Launches Moon Mission in Asian Space Race"
Space.com (October 21, 2008)

"NEW DELHI (AP) — Scientists have better maps of distant Mars than the moon where astronauts have walked. But India hopes to change that with its first lunar mission.

"Chandrayaan-1 — which means "Moon Craft" in ancient Sanskrit — launched from the Sriharikota space center in southern India early Wednesday morning (Local Time) in a two-year mission aimed at laying the groundwork for further Indian space expeditions.

"Chief among the mission's goals is mapping not only the surface of the moon, but what lies beneath. India joined what's shaping up as a 21st century space race with Chinese and Japanese crafts already in orbit around the moon....

"Lunar mission blasts off"
The Strait Times (Singapore) (October 22, 2008)

"SRIHARIKOTA (India) - INDIA on Wednesday successfully launched its first lunar mission in a major boost for the country's space programme.

"There were cheers in mission control as the unmanned lunar orbiting spacecraft Chandrayaan-1 was launched with an Indian-built rocket from the Satish Dhawan Space Centre in Sriharikota on the southeastern coast...."

Getting a spaceship to the moon is a pretty big deal. Five organizations have sent missions to Earth's only natural satellite so far: the United States, Russia, the European Space Agency, Japan and China. If all goes well with Chandrayaan-1, India will make it six.

And, for those who like an international flavor, six of Chandrayan-1's 11 payloads come from other countries. Including, apparently, some mapping equipment from the USA.

1. Terrain Mapping Camera (TMC): Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)
2. Hyper Spectral Imager (HySI): ISRO
3. Lunar Laser Ranging Instrument (LLRI): ISRO
4. High Energy X-ray Spectrometer (HEX): ISRO
5. Moon Impact Probe (MIP): ISRO
6. Chandrayaan-1 X-ray Spectrometer (C1XS): European Space Agency (ESA) with collaboration between Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, UK and ISRO Satellite Centre, ISRO
7. Near-IR Spectrometer (SIR-2): Max-Plank-Institute for Solar System Science, through the Max-Plank Society, Germany and ESA
8. Sub Kev Atom reflecting Analyser (SARA): ESA, in collaboration with Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Sweden and Space Physics Laboratory, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, ISRO
9. Radiation Dose Monitor Experiment (RADOM): Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
10. Miniature Synthetic Aperture Radar (MiniSAR): USA through NASA
11. Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3): Brown University and Jet Propulsion Laboratory, USA through NASA

(More about the Chandrayan-1 payloads at "Chandrayaan to carry 11 payloads" (ITExaminer.com (October 14, 2008)).

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Chandrayan? Chandrayaan? The first spelling is used in most of the articles I read, the second in the ITExaminer.com. This is the sort of thing that happens when words from one language - and writing system - are dropped into another. I'm using the first for what I write in this post, and leaving the 'double a' version in the ITExaminer.com article.

Chester Beatty Library: Art Museum and Library

"Welcome to the Chester Beatty Library Website"

"... the Chester Beatty Library is an art museum and library which houses the great collection of manuscripts, miniature paintings, prints, drawings, rare books and some decorative arts assembled by Sir Alfred Chester Beatty (1875-1968). The Library's exhibitions open a window on the artistic treasures of the great cultures and religions of the world. Its rich collection from countries across Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Europe offers visitors a visual feast. Chester Beatty Library was named Irish Museum of the year in 2000 and was awarded the title European Museum of the Year in 2002."