A new species of flightless bird has been discovered living on a tiny island in the northern Philippines where the inhabitants formerly ate them, scientists and birdwatchers said on Tuesday.
The bird, named the “Calayan Rail”, is the size of a small crow and has dark brown plumage and bright orange-red legs and beak, said Carl Oliveros, who helped lead the joint Filipino-British expedition that found it.
Evidently, the island inhabitants who formerly ate them were unaware of their existence and were shocked to learn that they’d been eating an actual bird, rather than, say, some featheryfleshy figment of their imaginations, which they routinely sauteed in coconut milk and garlic.
Said one villager, “had it not been for Carl Oliveros and the joint Filipino-British expedition, we most likely would have starved—dining as we were on a bird that didn’t exist. Thankfully, they arrived in time to save us from ourselves.
“Now, if they could only discover toilet paper for us, we wouldn’t have to use palm leaves and clam shells to scrape the kaka off our nethers.”
Oh, boy, this ought to be good.
So a native people whose traditions must trump civilization eats an unknown, but now that it’s known it’s undoubtedly endangered, species.
Let’s watch the opposing leftwing groups rumble in the streets over this one.
In somewhat related eco-moronic news:
http://www.professorbainbridge.com/2004/08/put_people_firs.html
It’s also on the LA Times site but I wouldn’t read that rag unless they quilted it and printed it in Charmin-sized sheets. And the ink wouldn’t come off on my ass.
“The piding…she tastes of chicken.”
—Mulyama Tsulamunamii, Calayan resident