Expendable, adjective, (1) open to sacrifice in the interests of gaining
an objective, especially a military one.
In early September, Bulgaria's capital dusted the dirt off its shoulders
to welcome the star-studded cast of the Hollywood action movie "The
Expendables 2".
To demonstrate Bulgaria's pride over the fact that it is providing the
filming locations for the blockbuster, an exclusively macho delegation
consisting of Prime Minister Borisov, Culture Minister Vezhdi Rashidov,
and, unsurprisingly, football star Hristo Stoichkov, rushed to meet and
greet the celebrities.
Gripped by the collective exaltation at the high-profile visit,
Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Water gave the green light to
shooting at the Devetashka Cave, a natural landmark of national and
international importance and a home to 13 protected bat species, two of
them considered globally endangered.
The permission to shoot was granted despite the fact that domestic
legislation only allows for activities related to tourism or scientific
research to take place at the site.
After the Hollywood legends left the set, an inspection conducted by
environmentalists revealed the heavy toll on the natural habitat.
The experts reported that the bats had been woken from hibernation and
were facing death by exhaustion or starvation.
Even if they could go back into hibernation, biologists said, the flying
mammals' chances of making it until summer would be severely reduced
because their energy reserves would be prematurely depleted due to the
uncustomary activity.
However, the disturbed bats might not be able to re-hibernate because
their home turned into a noisy top-notch tourist attraction after "The
Expendables 2" rebuilt the bridge leading to the Devetashka Cave and
left it as a "gift" for the country.
The inspection conducted by environmental experts showed that the cave
was inhabited by as little as 10 400 bats, while in the winter of 2010
they had been over 35 000.
The biologists found dead bats from three species which had fallen from
the cave ceiling, their carcasses bearing easily discernible signs of
exhaustion.
The check showed that the movie crew had violated the terms of the
permit, entering the dark part of the cave and engaging in a variety of
particularly noisy activities.
The European Commission and a number of global environmental
organizations filed inquiries as to why the situation had been allowed
to unfold.
Bulgaria's Ministry of Environment and Waters responded with its
habitual one-liner: There will be fines!
What does the story go to show?
The story goes to show that Bulgaria's bats are expendable.
It also shows that the Ministry of Environment and Water is more of a
Ministry for Selling Environment and Water.
The irony of it all is that this is happening in 2011, The Year of the
Bat, as declared by the UNEP Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and
The Agreement on the Conservation of Populations of European Bats
(EUROBATS).
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