Contest to establish Asia's Big 5 is pathetic media hype

[Guest guest]

Anybody seen this?

http://www.asiangeo.com/contest_big5.html

 

What is the point? With Africa's big 5, at least you can go and see

them in the wild with a pretty high chance of successful sighting.

 

Asia's big 5 animals, as proposed by Asian Geographic, are the panda,

tiger, orangutan and a choice of two of the following (to be chosen by

readers in their contest): Asian elephant, Asiatic black bear, Javan

rhino, red-crowned crane and Swinhoe's soft-shell turtle.

 

So, for eco-tourists planning to see these animals in Asia, shall we

presume the tour itinerary includes trips to panda breeding centres,

orangutan care-centres, elephant camps, tiger farms, bear bile farms,

and.. Singapore Zoo???

 

This competition looks like nothing but " zoo promotion " and ridicules

the plight of these species as they dwindle out of existence in the

wild. There is nothing in this competition that indicates to the

readers/contestants the serious threat these animal face and yet some

NGO's are encouraging their supporters to vote for specific species.

Why should this pathetic media hype be given any credibility?

 

Will having elephas maximus as one of " Asia's Big 5 " , do anything to

promote the conservation of this species in the wild? Or does it give

incentive for collectors to stock-up their private zoos, etc?

 

 

rant over. maybe someone else has a more balanced opinion?