[NOTE: The photo shows historic — and rare — pubic lice specimens in the collection of the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam.]
The Telegraph of India today published a letter of concern about the current work of Ig Nobel Prize winner Kees Moeliker. The letter says:
Close shave
Sir — That the chainsaw is responsible for species extinction is a fact that is fairly well-known. Who knew that a shaving razor could wreak the same havoc. In an unexpected twist on conservation efforts, the Dutch biologist, Kees Moeliker, has issued an unusual call to arms — save the pubic louse from extinction. Moeliker has compared the growing trend for intimate grooming to environmental deforestation, arguing that Brazilian waxing practices have left these tiny creatures without suitable habitats. While there is no doubt that conservation should focus on even the smallest of species, one is forced to ask whether the world would really be worse off if the pubic lice go extinct. Some things are perhaps not worth saving.
Aloke Kumar Mookherjee,
Calcutta
The Quest for Public Lice
Mookherjee’s letter was in response to an Agence France Presse (AFP) report that says (in part):
Pubic lice needed
Dutch biologist and Ig Nobel laureate Kees Moeliker said the prizes award scientists for doing their job: being curious, discovering what is happening, then publishing what they found.
For example, Moeliker’s prize-winning research — the first documented case of homosexual necrophilia in a mallard — started when an unlucky duck crashed into his office window.
At this point in the interview, Moeliker pulled the duck in question — which is now stuffed — out of his bag, prompting the waiter at the restaurant to ask whether it was real.
When the waiter was gone, Moeliker said: “I have a little request.”
He is looking for some pubic lice, and is hoping AFP’s readers can help.
The insect’s numbers are thought to be dwindling because of the modern tendency to trim pubic hair, Moeliker said, comparing the phenomenon to how deforestation has threatened pandas.
But he needs more samples to research the subject, so he is asking the public to send any specimens they have to the Natural History Museum in Rotterdam. One helpful person has already sent in lice sticky-taped to the back of a postcard.
But it might not be all bad news for pubic lice.
“I’ve heard stories from people in the fashion industry that pubic hair is coming back,” Moeliker said.
Unrelated Music
This music video has little relation, probably, to the current public lice controversy: