At 12:31 AM 3/11/98 -0500, Nuff Said wrote:

>There was an article in National Wildlife a year or two ago that
>mentioned that when zoo eagles die, the feathers are given to native
>Americans who use them for ceremonial purposes and since that was
>started, the black market price of a Bald Eagle carcass plumetted from a
>few thousand dollars to $500. A poacher would have to sell a lot to make
>up for getting caught and fined once, so a lot of poaching stopped. So
>the article claimed. NWF does tend to put a rosy spin on things, but it
>sounds reasonable.

There are those who dispute this. Dennis Paulson recently posted a note
from a researcher who believes the sanctioned distribution just provides
cover for illegally obtained feathers. Another way of looking at it -
perhaps prices have dropped because 1) baldies have increased (and goldens
have stayed relatively the same) and 2) the legal possession of feathers
due to legal distribution makes it easier to mask the market in illegal
feathers, meaning more take part, meaning greater supply in regard to
demand, meaning lower prices. #2 is an argument used against the
legalization
of marijuana for medicinal use, for instance.

Personally, I believe that the legal distribution system works as Nuff Said
Sez. My belief is colored by personal knowledge of a native American who
was patiently waiting for feathers from the Ashland facility (over a period
of years). On the other hand, he was eager to be in a raptor trapping blind
when a golden was caught (he was a volunteer in our Goshutes Raptor Project)
in hopes that the bird would lose a flight or tail feather while being
trapped.
In which case he hoped to keep it. As, I might add, more gringo raptor
workers
than you think do with raptor feathers...


- Don Baccus, Portland OR <dhogaza at pacifier.com>
Nature photos, on-line guides, and other goodies at
http://donb.photo.net