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Feeling guilty when birding far from home (1 Viewer)

Farnboro John said:
No, I think if you choose to enter their habitat (what's left of it) you have to just take your chances with an encounter.

John
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You misunderstood, the gun was 'for' the Bears.

Jan, any Bear that gets shot, is not going to be able to pass on the teachable moment is it, unless it's shot in front off a dozen other Bears so how is carrying a gun, for their sake? I think also that only a small proportion of Polar Bears ever meet people so we will always present the opportuniy of an easy feed when they do m-eat us :t:
 
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Hi YuShan - it was good to chat to you via PM and I hope you're still enjoying your local birding. The last fortnight or so has been pretty interesting my end.

I don't think birders really need feel guilty about travelling, but, speaking only for myself, I know there are some destinations that are just too far away for me to justify to myself. I'll be the first to hold my hand up and say that if the deterrent factor of cost was somehow removed, I'd travel more; but even if I won the lottery, I wouldn't really wish to visit eg. the Galapagos. Part of me would, undeniably, dearly love to see, say, an orange-breasted falcon chasing swifts against the backdrop of Angel Falls, or a Taita falcon etc... but I can be contented now to "admire from afar". There's a lot I would still like to see closer to home, and once that sickle-winged bird kicks into high gear and begins the chase, whether it's a hobby or an orange-breasted falcon, the excitement is very much the same.
 
I arrived in The Outer Hebrides yesterday it's great to be back here and further afield from home. I'm not worried about COVID up here because there has been no cases up here but still keeping safe.
 
andyadcock said:
You misunderstood, the gun was 'for' the Bears.

Jan, any Bear that gets shot, is not going to be able to pass on the teachable moment is it, unless it's shot in front off a dozen other Bears so how is carrying a gun, for their sake? I think also that only a small proportion of Polar Bears ever meet people so we will always present the opportuniy of an easy feed when they do m-eat us :t:
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It's because the majority of encounters do not end up killing the bear, but scaring it away with the noise, as the firearms in question are really loud. Basically the only reason why you are doing this with a lethal weapon is that if it fails, you won't have enough time to change weapons. I heard that the average distance from which a bear is killed is something like 20 meters - it turns out that actually hitting a moving bear is not that easy :)
 
But all polar bears are starving because of climate change. Every single documentary about polar bears during the last decade repeats it. Surely the most environmentally correct way is not to carry a gun and let yourself be consumed?
 
No worries, such things are coming to the end.

Modern technology produces computer-generated animal images much more easily and cheaply than real ones. No need of generating carbon by traveling, and worrying about the animal being aggressive, shy, extinct or fictional. Within the 10 years, I expect, we could watch infinite number of computer-generated photos and films of polar bears, birds and all other wildlife.

I expect the next generation of keyboard warriors will praise computer-generated animals, because no carbon was generated on travel, no live animals was disturbed, and of course, computer images would be more interesting and beautiful. Like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jAOBcT7pUOs

These images will mobilize public interest, of course not in nature conservation. In theme parks and video games. And what happens to the real world and actual wildlife goes extinct? Well, this is the result of concentrating on the personal feel-well, not the reality.
 
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