To hunt or not to hunt birds. That has been the question raging through cyberspace these past two weeks as pro- and anti-hunters slugged it out over a school fund-raising event in Limpopo in which teams of pupils participated in a bird-shooting competition.
Arguments became so animated that even Prince Charles and Camilla were drawn into the affair.
The SPCA has become involved, and among the contributors to the forum have been leading lights of the ornithological world such as Professor Les Underhill, the director of the Animal Demography Unit at the University of Cape Town and vice-president of the International Ornithological Committee, and Dr Aldo Berruti, a past executive director of BirdLife South Africa and now director of the African Gamebird Research Education and Development Trust (Agred).
Apparently, fruitless attempts were made to get Naledi Pandor, the national minister of education, to step in.
The debate took place on a website called sabirdnet, on which subscribers usually exchange information sedately on matters such as good or unusual bird sightings or pleasant birding trips. Being birders, most argued that it was a travesty that children should be encouraged to kill for fun.
Others argued that bird hunting could be good for their own conservation. The rumpus was set off by an item in a four wheel-drive magazine about a bird-hunting competition for pupils being arranged to collect funds for JG Strijdom High School in Mookgophong, formerly Naboomspruit.
The school is named after Hans Strijdom, an apartheid-era prime minister who represented the Waterberg constituency in parliament and was known as "The Lion of the North" for his hardline racist views.
Naboomspruit once came to national attention when its mayor, thought to have been encouraged by a drink too many, told his citizenry at a meeting in the town hall that their village was a "kak dorpie" (a shitty little town). It ended up providing celebrated newspaper editor Joel Mervis with fertile material for his popular satirical column in The Sunday Times.
First to be posted on the forum was an item quoting the National Council of the SPCA as saying: "The linking of a school with flagrant slaughter - turning killing into sport and competition - reflects badly on our country as a whole and the involvement of children carries grave implications."
It said appeals to stop the hunt had been made to all the authorities, from the provincial education department to Pandor, but without success.
Lunga Ngqengelele, Pandor's spokesperson, said that fundraising issues were the responsibility of schools' governing bodies and the provincial education departments.
Underhill posted a press release from the SPCA in Cape Town which, he said, provided more detail. It said that, according to the magazine article, the competition prizes would be for the largest comb, the longest spur and the heaviest bag of birds. Accommodation would be in the school hostel.
There would be room for 25 teams of four guns each that would set out to bag francolin and guinea fowl. "It promises to be a weekend of great shooting, terrific camaraderie and a great opportunity to raise money for a worthy cause," the magazine item was quoted as saying.
The Cape SPCA declared: "Levels of violence in our communities and in our schools remain in the spotlight. We ask what kind of message this activity sends out. Certainly not a message of compassion or regard for life."
Forum member Debi said: "Thoroughly disillusioned after reading this. Even if we can't stop this one, I am hoping that, with enough negative feedback, the school will never repeat this."
Theo said: "Twenty-five teams x four guns each = 100 guns = at least 200 birds? This is more like an all-out assault than a hunt! And the bird with the largest comb/longest spur wins a prize! I am sure it will be thrilled to death."
Gerhardt tried a broader perspective: "Wingshooting remains a recognised sport. The Prince of Wales loves it."
Amanda countered: "The Prince of Wales also loves Camilla, but that doesn't make it right."
Added Lucia: "So should we all do what the Prince of Wales loves doing? Or are you intimating that the Prince of Wales cannot put a foot wrong?"
Craig tried lamely to divert the issue by commenting: "His foot is fine, it's his other bits that are of concern."
But Debi put it back on track: "For me, it also has to do with promoting a value - that killing birds is fun - to the children. The school is endorsing it. That is not something that I would like my child to learn at school. A bit ironic that it is happening in an area that many of us travel to just to experience the birdlife!"
Ernst concurred: "The fact that a school is prepared to arrange something like this is crazy. Especially in this country of ours, I think a school will do much better teaching children to appreciate life rather than destroying it - just to have so-called fun. Why not see what group can see the most birds! And at least make a positive contribution of some sort."
Then came the authoritative offering of former BirdLife director Berruti: "There are many such shoots annually in South Africa. I offer clarity on a typical community shoot, as they are usually called. Such a shoot typically takes place over tens of thousands of hectares and the impact on gamebirds will be minimal.
"Thus, a shoot like this may generate 300 to 1 000 birds from, say, 20 000 to 30 000ha, or somewhere in the region of one bird per 10 to 100ha. The most frequently hunted species in South Africa (rock pigeon, Swainson's spurfowl, guineafowl) have all increased hugely in abundance as a result of agriculture. This Limpopo shoot will almost certainly target mainly Swainson's and guineafowl.
"There is no general conservation issue here, and very seldom (if ever) is there a huge impact at a local level. Incidentally, the shooters will each pay in excess of R400 for a day. Would you be able to find 100 bird atlassers who would offer to spend such money on a fundraising event for a school?"
He made the further points that killing animals was a reality for farm children and would not affect their view of life, and that shot game birds were eaten, which was better than having them killed by poisoning, which happened to them by the thousands.
He had a further thought: "It is often said that hunters enjoy killing, whereas most hunters say that it is the experience of hunting which counts. In biltong hunting, it is obviously meat for eating which is a major goal as well.
"I remember trying to explain this to a person at a dinner once, without success. 'You kill for pleasure,' she said. Looking at her plate, where a steak lay partly eaten, I said, 'And you had that animal killed for your pleasure'."
"Virtually everyone who buys and eats meat (for pleasure, as it is not critical for nutrition) does not consider the quality of lives led by the animals they had killed for them, and base their meat-buying decisions on price and nothing else.
"To me, it is far more honest to take personal responsibility for killing the animals you eat.
"This debate takes on a far different shape with vegetarians, who take a great deal of credit and respect for walking the talk."
Ernst took Berruti to task for what he thought was his cheap shot at bird atlassers: "Why target a project and people that try their best to make a massive contribution to our knowledge about birds?"
Berruti had no remorse: "Sorry to have offended you, Ernst, but the comment is not a cheap shot at atlassing. It was within the context of the issue. You opened the door by suggesting atlassing as an alternative for this event (aimed at fundraising), and this part of my e-mail was to say that it is not a viable option for fundraising."