# What information about endangered species is unethical to share? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 25, 2014, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199 "2014-02-25T05:07:43Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/21 "2014-02-25T17:06:58Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > :dubious: Really? Why? Are tall trees somehow “endangered”? Are they at risk of being stolen, or felled, if people know where they are? Yes, they are. Being famous makes them a target for theft or even simple vandalism. I recall seeing a locally-famous tree in Ecuador, large for its species but not that rare, with burn marks all up the side from local vandals. I can only imagine that a truly rare, large, or old tree would be even more prone to damage. Also, now that we have that out of the way, I’d like to suggest a very potentially dangerous piece of information about endangered species: recipes! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/22 "2014-02-25T17:18:26Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > :eek: > And here I am wasting my time in grad school! Maybe not if you’re majoring in [chemistry.](http://img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20130928055404/breakingbad/images/e/e7/BB-S5B-Walt-590.jpg) ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/23 "2014-02-25T17:24:14Z")
> [@wevets](#): > > **Colibri** got it, while you can safely tell the public how many individuals or breeding pairs of an endangered species there are, you can’t safely tell the public where specifically those organisms are or where they congregate. Or, how delicious they taste sautéed with a little olive oil and garlic. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Second\_Stone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@The\_Second\_Stone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Second_Stone)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/24 "2014-02-25T17:27:34Z")
> [@Bill\_Door](#): > > How utterly, utterly, delicious they are. Recipes. ---
**Author:** ![Haunted\_Pasta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/94ad74/32.png) [@Haunted\_Pasta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Haunted_Pasta)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/25 "2014-02-25T17:39:00Z")
Quick aside of possible relevance: archeological sites get the same treatment for the same reasons. My environmental consulting company does a fair bit of archeology work, too, and hard copies of our reports are frequently submitted with the location maps redacted to discourage artifact collectors. (The documents are often done for public agencies and are thus accessible to the general public.) The client gets them on CD only. The concern over the largest trees isn’t just strictly related to mindless vandalism. Haven’t you ever been so upset at your significant other that the most sensible thing to do was to [cast a ritual spell by poisoning a famous tree?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_Oak_(Austin,_Texas)) Sure, we all have. But I can see how some people wouldn’t like it. People who have never been IN LOVE. ---
**Author:** ![md2000](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/73ab20/32.png) [@md2000](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/md2000)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 6:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/26 "2014-02-25T18:56:17Z")
There was a famous bright yellow pine tree - very unique - on the Queen Charlotte Islands of BC. Some nutbar chopped it down to protest logging or some such weird reason. Never underestimate the ability of humans to be destructive and stupid at the same time. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 8:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/27 "2014-02-25T20:53:38Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > :dubious: Really? Why? Are tall trees somehow “endangered”? Are they at risk of being stolen, or felled, if people know where they are? > > The location of “[General Sherman](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Sherman_%28tree%29)”, the largest (not tallest, although probably one of the tallest) tree on Earth, is well known. > [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Perhaps I’m missing something, but how is saying “The Cloudpiercer Pine is in Bumfondle National Park but its exact location is a secret” acheiving anything when all anyone who _really_ cares has to do is walk into said park and look for the tallest tree (ie the one that’s towering above all the other trees?) The book [The Wild Trees](http://www.amazon.com/The-Wild-Trees-Passion-Daring/dp/0812975596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393361186&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Wild+Trees) talks about the search for Hyperion, the tallest so-far-discovered tree, in Redwood National Park. It talks about vandalism (initials carving, cutting off souvenirs, etc.) towards other significant trees and the deliberate secrecy imposed to prevent that with their find. And it also talks about how difficult it is to actually measure the height of a tree, especially in a situation like Redwood National Park where the terrain itself is highly variable, the forest floor isn’t always soil (covered by a thick layer of duff and debris), incredibly thick foliage obscures line of sight to treetops (for both visual confirmation and laser rangefinding), etc. To really accurately measure a tree, they had to shoot a fishing line up to some mid-level branch, pull up a climbing rope, manually ascend the tree to the top, and then drop down a measuring tape. Even given GPS coordinates, finding the “correct” tree is no easy task. They all look similar from the ground. Here’s [another guy’s journal of his search](http://www.panamintcity.com/hyperion/hyperionredwood.html). ---
**Author:** ![sitchensis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sitchensis/32/4892_2.png) [@sitchensis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sitchensis)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/28 "2014-02-25T22:59:16Z")
> [@md2000](#): > > There was a famous bright yellow pine tree - very unique - on the Queen Charlotte Islands of BC. Some nutbar chopped it down to protest logging or some such weird reason. Never underestimate the ability of humans to be destructive and stupid at the same time. It was a Sitka spruce with a genetic mutation that caused it to look golden. The guy was a logger for years and then cut down the tree to protest logging, or something. All you can really say about him was that he was nuts. ---
**Author:** ![Martini\_Enfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/martini_enfield/32/11123_2.png) [@Martini\_Enfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Martini_Enfield)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/29 "2014-02-25T23:02:09Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > The book [The Wild Trees](http://www.amazon.com/The-Wild-Trees-Passion-Daring/dp/0812975596/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1393361186&sr=8-1&keywords=The+Wild+Trees) talks about the search for Hyperion, the tallest so-far-discovered tree, in Redwood National Park. It talks about vandalism (initials carving, cutting off souvenirs, etc.) towards other significant trees and the deliberate secrecy imposed to prevent that with their find. > > And it also talks about how difficult it is to actually measure the height of a tree, especially in a situation like Redwood National Park where the terrain itself is highly variable, the forest floor isn’t always soil (covered by a thick layer of duff and debris), incredibly thick foliage obscures line of sight to treetops (for both visual confirmation and laser rangefinding), etc. To really accurately measure a tree, they had to shoot a fishing line up to some mid-level branch, pull up a climbing rope, manually ascend the tree to the top, and then drop down a measuring tape. > > Even given GPS coordinates, finding the “correct” tree is no easy task. They all look similar from the ground. Here’s [another guy’s journal of his search](http://www.panamintcity.com/hyperion/hyperionredwood.html). Interesting… and I’ve learned something about how hard it is to find trees in a forest, too! 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [February 25, 2014, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199/30 "2014-02-25T23:19:26Z")
> [@Martini\_Enfield](#): > > Interesting… and I’ve learned something about how hard it is to find trees in a forest, too! 🙂 Sometimes it’s difficult to see the trees (or one particular tree) for the forest. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-information-about-endangered-species-is-unethical-to-share/682199.md?page=1)