Of Canada geese & 'traditional Chinese medicine'

To some of us, Canada geese are the creatures who litter sidewalks with their excrement, causing pedestrians to hop-scotch forward while cursing the birds.  To others, they nest in inappropriate places, such as near the entrance to a business building surrounded by (inviting) green lawn.

In short, the Canada goose is sometimes regarded as the persona non grata of the wild bird world.  Those who know little if anything good about the birds opt to have them gassed or otherwise disposed of – as if that were the only way to solve the problem that sometimes exists.

But it doesn’t have to be that way, as the Animal Protection League of New Jersey (APLNJ) keeps proving.  Through its Canada Goose Protection Program, APL members talk up and demonstrate humane, non-lethal ways to coexist with Canada geese and deter them from being in places where they’re not appropriate or wanted. 

Nesting Canada goose

When that happens, communities have no need to  contract with the USDA or other exterminators, and people’s view of the birds becomes much more accepting. 

And why not, since Canada geese can boast of many sterling qualities, according to those who know them well: They mate for life. They’re both highly intelligent and protective, loving parents who teach their children to survive and co-exist with humans, who could learn from them!    

Here’s an overview of what APLNJ is doing around the state to protect Canada geese by stopping goose gassing and presenting real alternative actions that make it possible for people and geese to live together.    https://conta.cc/37QQTyO

This is the season when goose gassing begins, so right now is the time to be aware of the options for dealing with Canada geese – needless killing or humane, non-lethal alternatives.

Infamous ‘medicine’

Pangolin

For how long have we been familiar with the phrase “traditional Chinese medicine” (TCM) then, based on that last word’s assumed credibility, never gave it another thought?  I'll bet we didn’t know what those 3 words were all about . . . until we kept seeing them connected with poaching and killing of animals so their body parts could be used in that so-called “medicine.” 

That’s right: “TCM” traditionally uses animals for something described this way by Wikipedia: “An alternative medical practice drawn from traditional medicine in China.  It has been described as "fraught with pseudoscience", and the majority of its treatments as having no logical mechanism of action.”  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Chinese_medicine

For that, innumerable animals have died and will continue to die?! 

The "need" for these animal parts has driven some species closer to extinction and of course has engendered and encouraged poachers (sometimes described as "the most hated creatures in Africa"), who hunt restricted or endangered species to fuel TMC.

Just a few “for instances”: pangolin scales, tiger bones, rhino horns, seahorses and bear bile are used in “medicinal” compounds as part of TCM.  And please note: thousands of Asiatic black bears are held in bear farms for the severely painful ongoing process of accessing bear bile, which is also an ingredient in an injection recommended for treating Covid-19.  (Would you take it?)

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/article/siberian-tigers-are-being-hunted-at-night-for-their-body-parts?loggedin=true

Stingray

Animal parts sought for use in TCM include stingray gill plates, testicles and penis bone of dog, shark fins and lately, donkeys (now endangered and removed from some African countries, where they’re truly needed by laborers, for this “pseudo-scientific” purpose.) 

This continued poaching and killing of animals for “traditional Chinese medicine” is reminiscent of  Canada's annual seal slaughter, when it’s claimed that clubbing baby seals for their fur is also part of a long tradition and therefore should continue.

But in criticizing “traditional Chinese medicine” and other questionable traditions fatal for animals, remember that this year in the US, a pig’s heart was implanted in a human, and talk immediately began about how easily pigs could be bred, then killed, for this purpose. 

What a world.

Asiatic Black Bear

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