By With the Deathly Hallows’ release date quickly approaching, you can probably assume Harry Potter merchandise is being sold like hotcakes. Posters, wands, wizards robes, owls bought off the surprisingly lucrative illegal bird trade…Wait, what?
According to the BBC, India’s Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, is claiming that Harry Potter is to blame for India’s dwindling wild owl population. The owl population, which has traditionally been threatened by poachers who use them for black magic rituals (no, really), are now threatened by poaches who sell them to Harry Potter fans or, as some ultra religious folk may call it, more black magic.
Surprisingly, this isn’t the first film to devastate animal populations. Finding Nemo, a film that hoped to protect the reef and its fishy population by raising environmental awareness, backfired horribly when the demand for exotic fish skyrocketed following the film’s release. I’m guessing the only reason Happy Feet hasn’t had similar problems is because emperor penguins
With the Deathly Hallows' release date quickly approaching, you can probably assume Harry Potter merchandise is being sold like hotcakes. Posters, wands, wizards robes, owls bought off the surprisingly lucrative illegal bird trade…Wait, what?
According to the BBC, India's Environment Minister, Jairam Ramesh, is claiming that Harry Potter is to blame for India's dwindling wild owl population. The owl population, which has traditionally been threatened by poachers who use them for black magic rituals (no, really), are now threatened by poaches who sell them to Harry Potter fans or, as some ultra religious folk may call it, more black magic.
Surprisingly, this isn't the first film to devastate animal populations. Finding Nemo, a film that hoped to protect the reef and its fishy population by raising environmental awareness, backfired horribly when the demand for exotic fish skyrocketed following the film's release. I'm guessing the only reason Happy Feet hasn't had similar problems is because emperor penguins are too damn far away to catch.
[Via BBC]