Transylvania is running out of vampires

greenspun.com : LUSENET : `International Campaign to Ban Boxcutters : One Thread

BUCHAREST, Romania - Transylvania is running out of vampires - and concerned authorities are warning that the tragic development may wipe out what remains of this poverty-stricken country's already suffering tourist industry.

Only 17 of the legendary monsters - identified and tracked as part of an extensive wildlife tagging program - are known to still be roaming the rugged Carpathian Mountains, according to vampire protection activists.

"Transylvania is their traditional home and if they don't survive here, then it's only a matter of time before they become extinct around the world," vampire activist Rad Dragunov cautioned.

Dragunov told the Vampire Survival Quarterly that the effort to rescue the undead has been hampered by years of bad publicity and a flippant attitude by interna-tional wildlife organizations which refuse to recognize them as an endangered species.

"And at home, it's sad that after the horrors of Nicolae Ceausescu's Communist dictatorship, Romanians just aren't afraid of vampires anymore," he said.

The activist said scores of city-dwelling vampires were chased down and staked after the revolution of 1989, and the terrified survivors fled to the rugged mountains where they have been hiding out in caves and deep forests.

The taggers reported that the dirty, ragged survivors were undernourished, stres-sed out and suffering horribly from a lack of proper dental care.

Dragunov said it's very difficult now for Transylva-nian vampires to reproduce through the tried and true method of thrice kissing - or sucking the blood of a would-be recruit - because for the most part they've been removed from the society of living mortals.

Vampires have also occasionally been created when someone is struck by lightning, or certain people commit suicide, but Dragonuv said that's very rare these days.

"The sad fact of the matter is that without swift and sure humanitarian intervention, the vampires are doomed," he said.

"And we must not allow that to happen - because they're all we've got."

- By Cliff Linedecker

Published on: January 14, 2002

-- Vk (protection@holywater.com), February 28, 2002


Moderation questions? read the FAQ