“The Naming of Cats is a difficult matter,
It isn't just one of your holiday games...”
If T.S.Eliot thought that cats were difficult, he
must never have encountered the controversy that has surrounded the
“naming” of wild birds whose lives are featured on the Internet.
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| (Image (c)2014 Montgomeryshire Wildlife Trust) |
Few other topics polarize opinions on the forums
and chatrooms in quite the way that this one does. In only a matter of hours, a simple discussion on which name is best will have
degenerated into a wholesale slanging match and eventually end with
each faction branding the other as “Nazis” in the traditional
Facebook fashion. But is it REALLY such a big issue...?
Part of the problem seems to originate with those
people who think that giving names to wild creatures is in some way
“unscientific” or even “disrespectful.” I question their
motivations about this. Many of the top osprey researchers around
the world are quite comfortable with the concept, and yet their
scientific credentials and integrity cannot be doubted. I suspect
that the objections come from those who think that taking such a
position will in some way make them look like “proper naturalists”
- presumably this being easier than actually going to University for
four years.
At the other end of the spectrum, and
diametrically opposed, are those who regard the animals to be seen on TV series
or live streaming as vicarious pets. For them, it is important to have
names and the cuter and more whimsical the names are, the better. I
understand this too – even though the idea of a chick that will
later become a large predatory bird being called “Pootsie
Fluffykins” (or similar) is a bit too whimsical, even for me.
In sober reality, though, the truth is that both
of these artificially exaggerated stances are just wrong. The birds
remain wild birds, and the allocation of names to them does not
affect their lives in any way. They are not being disrespected, for
they would not value our respect nor be troubled by the absence of it.
It does not matter if we choose to identify an individual bird by a name, or a leg ring (band) number, or a project database index code. All of these are just symbolic tags – a matter of human convenience - and the differences between them exist only in the eye of the beholder.
It does not matter if we choose to identify an individual bird by a name, or a leg ring (band) number, or a project database index code. All of these are just symbolic tags – a matter of human convenience - and the differences between them exist only in the eye of the beholder.
