the blog quebecois

ScienceDaily:

Animals' 'right to privacy' is being denied by makers of television wildlife documentaries, according to a UK academic.

Dr Brett Mills from the University of East Anglia argues that while wildlife programmes can play a vital role in engaging citizens in environmental debates, in order to 'do good' they must inevitably deny many species the right to privacy.

Published in the current issue of Continuum: Journal of Media and Cultural Studies, Dr Mills' study analyses the 'making of' documentaries that accompanied the BBC wildlife series Nature's Great Events (2009). Exploring the debates on ethics, animal welfare and rights and human rights, Dr Mills suggests that animals have a right to privacy but this is turned into a challenge for the production teams, who use newer forms of technology to overcome species' desire not to be seen.

Oh, good grief. Where to begin?

Anyone who's had a dog knows that they have what could be best described as a joyous insouciance when it comes to bodily functions. The only reason they don't happily poop in the middle of the kitchen floor more often is that they've learned to associate the act with humans yelling at them.

As far as wild animals seeking "privacy" while mating or defecating, that has little to do with their religious hangups or bad toilet training. It's because they instinctively understand that they are vulnerable to predators and/or documentary filmmakers at such moments and therefore try to limit their exposure.

My best guess is that, following Climategate, East Anglia decided to shut down its Climate Research Unit; and citing tenure, the "scientists" employed there were required to be picked up by other faculties; the Department of Biology in this case being stuck with the short straw.