I would like to add a plea to Chris Gleed-Owen's perfectly
reasonable request. I am sure it was never Chris's intention to ask
people to kill animals for the purpose of inclusion in reference
collections, but it is probably better to clarify this point. Please,
only collect animals which died because of natural causes (or were
killed for different reasons). Amphibians and reptiles are particularly
vulnerable and should be left in peace.
When Jacqui is back from field work I will suggest to her that we
formalise the fact that any request of exchange of specimens sent
to zooarch must include a statement that specifies that no animals
should be killed specifically for that purpose. It is not just a
question of abiding by the law, it is a more general ethical issue.
Cheers,
Umberto
Umberto Albarella
Department of Ancient History and Archaeology
University of Birmingham
Edgbaston
Birmingham B15 2TT
U.K.
tel. +44/121/4147386
fax. +44/121/4145516
email [log in to unmask]
http://www.bham.ac.uk/BZL
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