"Anybody But Me" -- The Folly of Denial and Elitism

This past Friday's edition of the New York Times finally covered the proposed wildlife feeding ban in NYC parks. -- But it may be too little too late.

( "It's Eastertime and the Duck Rescuers are Ready" https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/19/nyregion/ducks-city-parks-.html )

This important article illustrates just some of the likely negative consequences of the reckless ban that the NYC Parks Department and Mayor seek to impose on New Yorkers and parks' vulnerable wildlife.

Abandoned domestic ducks are, of course, not wildlife.
These ducks cannot fly or "forage" like wild ducks and their nutritional needs are greater than those of wild waterfowl. Should the feeding ban pass, these birds are essentially doomed as virtually all depend upon human support, especially in winter.

What has been so stunning and disappointing throughout this struggle are the number of rescue people, birders and even some feeders who support the ban.

There seems to be this naive and even elitist belief that the ban will not apply to them.

During the recent hearing and comment testimonies, a number of birders and rescuers said that they supported the ban, but that they themselves should be exempt because they "only feed nutritious foods" or they only used food in order to rescue.

This is like a dog owner arguing in favor of Pooper Scooper laws,
 "But not for my dog." Or one arguing in favor of wind turbines, "But not in my backyard."

 Such arguments are exercises in contradiction and elitism and tend to carry little weight with decision makers. Indeed the proposed rule makes NO EXCEPTIONS.  Not for rescuers, not for birders and not for feeders supporting dumped domestic ducks in parks.

The proposal was never about what to feed or under what circumstances. It is an outright BAN  and it would apply to everyone and under all circumstances. (No allowance even for severe weather.)

That many birders, rescuers and even Animal Rights people failed to support the effort to defeat this cruel and far-reaching proposal speaks to not only, naivete, but certain arrogance. Most of all, it speaks to misunderstanding of the facts.

One has to suspect most ban supporters were not around in city parks when so many ducks, geese and other waterfowl starved to death on icy lakes during the Polar Vortex of 2015. -- A winter when thousands of water birds perished in the North East. 

(It is not pleasant to watch animals starve to death. It is something one never forgets.)

Now, in their zeal to beat down and punish "stupid" people feeding bread or crackers in parks, they condemn many animals to starve from squirrels, to goslings, to domestic ducks and many others as man-made parks are not created to provide food sources for wildlife.  On the contrary, many natural food sources (such as foliage at Jackie Onassis Reservoir) have been deliberately removed or destroyed.

Thus, those rescuers, birders and even feeders who supported ban have argued against their own interests and efforts. ( i.e."self-sabotage.") They will be handed tickets and fines just as anyone else.

It is unlikely that Ms. Zafonte (profiled in article) will continue feeding after paying hefty fines and threatened with jail time.

And that will be very bad news for the three domestic ducks at the 59th St Pond in Central Park that she has been feeding for some time and who are reliant on her.

A pox on all the houses that supported this draconian, reckless and cruel measure that will ultimately harm both, animals in parks as well as the caring humans who tried to help and save them.


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