WALTON SUN (Santa Rosa Beach, Florida) 19 November 10 Zoologist Jim Fowler to appear at Outdoor Expo (Jay Felsberg)
Chipley: Zoologist and television personality Jim Fowler will be on hand to introduce animal exhibits at the Washington County Outdoor Expo and Gun & Knife Show today and Sunday at the Washington County Agricultural Center.
Fowler, who is best known locally through his efforts to develop a wild animal park just south of Bonifay, said exhibitions like those at the Expo by Seacrest Wolf Preserve, Bear Creek Feline Center and Save Our American Raptors are important ways of expanding knowledge of the natural world.
“There is nothing more important,” Fowler said in a telephone interview Wednesday. “It’s important to our quality of life that we keep the natural world intact. One of the most important things we need to do in the 21st century is to reconnect children and families with that natural world.”
Fowler said the media “is pretty good about getting everyone involved in an issue,” but as far as nature is concerned, it’s usually a story of some horror done by an animal and usually exaggerates the danger caused by nature to human beings.
“The media is creating a fear of animals,” Fowler said, “and animals are really not dangerous to humans.”
Part of the problem between humans and animals is genetic, he said. “At one time, we were food,” he said, and that is ingrained into both sides’ genetic memory.
As an example of overreaction, Fowler called the issue of Burmese pythons in the Everglades an example of overreaction, with the probable numbers of snakes and their danger greatly exaggerated. Fowler said Sen. Bill Nelson went so far as to introduce federal legislation that would prohibit importation of any “exotic” wildlife.Fowler said more people are killed by machines than animals. “We haven’t been around on Earth long enough to be horrified about being killed by machines.”
Sharks, for example, made 569 attacks from 1959-2009, resulting in eight deaths, according to the Florida Museum of Natural History. In contrast, there were 2,563 people killed in traffic accidents in Florida alone in 2009, according to the Florida Department of Transportation.
Nearly 210,000 people — about 16,200 of them children younger than 19 — were treated in doctors’ offices, clinics and emergency rooms for lawnmower-related injuries in 2007, according to U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports. There were 247,000 people treated for lawn mower-related injuries in 2008, more than 18,000 of them children under age 19, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports. Lawn mower-related injuries have increased 7 percent since 2008. Approximately 75 people die from lawn mower injuries every year.
“You never read about this in the media,” Fowler said. “The things that really kill people are associated with the family home.
“If you know about animals, you don’t have to make it a frightening thing in your life.”
For such reasons, Fowler believes it is necessary to report facts about natural life and “reconnect” families with nature. Exhibits like the Outdoor Expo this weekend are an excellent was to do so.
Fowler said he would also offer “a new message for the 21st century” at the exhibition.
Zoologist Jim Fowler to appear at Outdoor Expo

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