Humor helps a rare bird survive in Cambodia Conservationists’
gentle engagement with locals boosts the prospects for the
Bengal Florican. Baray District, Cambodia Subscribe Today to the
Monitor His audience: monks and farmers, housewives with
screaming babies – each with a skeptical look that deepened as
the morning heat rose. His subject: the Bengal Florican, an
endangered bird few have ever heard of, let alone seen. His
task: to convince the lean-looking villagers that, should they
ever come across the bird, a hefty five-pounder, it is better to
save it than to eat it. By all accounts, he succeeded
wonderfully. There were cheers as he took playful jabs at a monk
and teased two bemused old ladies, using humor to impart the
value of the bird. Diagrams and posters were marshaled to
explain that, as much as they look alike, Bengal Florican eggs
are not duck eggs and should be left alone. During the quiz at
the end, the 30 or so participants raised their hands with
gleeful eagerness, suggesting that, whether or