Readers
Lengthy hunt made short work of Macho B
Re: the April 28 guest opinion “Learning from Macho B – Jaguars can thrive in Arizona if we act now”:
Thank you for publishing Sergio Avila’s guest opinion on the killing of our jaguar.
I have been part of a group that maintained cameras to help gather jaguar data, and the unnecessary, unjustifed killing of Macho B affected me deeply.
The so-called Jaguar Conservation Team has been chomping at the bit to capture, knock out and radio-collar this jaguar for at least three years, and I support Mr. Avila’s call to disband it.
I agree that we need to protect habitat so that Machos and Machas can return to the land they once freely roamed.
That can happen with an honest Endangered Species Act plan from the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, but it will not happen with Arizona Game & Fish’s “assessment.”
Finally, as the investigation into this tragedy continues, let us hope that a few people at the bottom will not be scapegoated to protect those culpable higher up.
Albert Vetere Lannon
scientist
Safeguard creatures to protect our future
Thank you for publishing the guest opinion submitted by Sergio Avila (Monday, “Learning from Macho B – Jaguars can thrive in Arizona if we act now”).
It is heartwarming to hear the responses from folks who never knew Macho B existed and now are incensed that “they killed our jaguar.” More than a beautiful animal or an advantageous scientific study, he was a symbol of the unique biodiversity of southern Arizona.
As educators, we have failed to get the point across. All creatures are interconnected – including human creatures. We must not create gaps in that connectedness – for our own health and well-being – just as we must not allow a lack of knowledge and understanding to create gaps in the continuous access to habitat.
Where we set aside wilderness for jaguar habitat is as important as how much we set aside. We need to support U.S. Rep. Raúl Grijalva’s mission to protect the Tumacacori Highlands, as that is an important link for individuals who may migrate from south of the border.
Only man recognizes boundaries. And by attempting to enforce those boundaries, we have the power to create for ourselves an ecological island within which we cannot survive for long.
Does this make the jaguar an umbrella species? Perhaps so. By requiring U.S. Fish & Wildlife to develop a comprehensive plan to protect the jaguar, that protection is extended to other species that fall within the range. Eventually the human species will be affected positively or negatively by the decisions we make today.
Please continue to publish such articles. It is important to keep information available so the public may encourage and guide our officials to make decisions in our own best interest.
Kathy Cooper
Like idle GM plants, put Legislature in park
The trickle-down economic theory of the Republicans does not work.
General Motors is dealing with the reality by closing down 15 of its North American plants with a nine-week voluntary shutdown. They anticipate that workers will collect state unemployment.
Closer to home, this might be a good cue for the Arizona Legislature. Housing for these magnificent politicians includes mammoth air conditioning bills. (Those are two huge buildings.)
The AC savings alone might make the down payment on my new Cadillac. Then, add the state savings of the salaries of numerous staff.
The state of Arizona has no money. So why should the Legislature be in session? Maybe a nine-week shutdown is in order, maybe longer.
Fredrick Hermanns
Mesa
Erratic life decisions show Obama’s all wet
President Obama is full of contradictions! He expresses “horror” against “waterboarding of enemy combatants,” but he expresses no concern for the methods used in the “killing” of innocent babies during the final three months of their development in their mother’s wombs, the procedure called “partial birth” where the doctor begins to deliver a live baby, feet first.
As the baby passes through the birth canal and the head emerges, the doctor halts the procedure, stabs “him or her” at the base of the skull, and completes the procedure by sucking out the baby’s brain.
In other types of abortion, if the baby survives the botched procedure, Obama voted three times in the Illinois Legislature to deny the baby water and nourishment. The baby is then consigned to a soiled linen closet to die.
God help us!
Helen Seader