Footwear giant Puma accused of defacing 17th century buildings in Delhi for shoe commercial

2017-11-22T13:38:00-05:00

Global sportswear giant Puma was accused today of irreversibly damaging 17th-century architecture in Delhi's historic quarter as part of an advertising stunt to promote a new line of shoes.

For their latest shoe ad dubbed "Suede Gully," Puma spraypainted large, colorful murals over several buildings in Old Delhi, a centuries-old quarter and heritage area. The stunt has conservationists outraged, claiming that the graffiti has caused permanent damage to the carved sandstone, limestone plaster and Lahori bricks.

Rules to protect Delhi's heritage sites do exist, as does one that specifically forbids advertising on historic buildings. However, laws protecting these sites from destruction are rarely enforced and the sportswear brand was granted all of the necessary permissions for their graffiti clad campaign.

Housing developments change puma behavior

2015-02-16T18:47:00-05:00

Female pumas kill more prey but consume less when their territories bump into human development, UC Santa Cruz researchers report in a new study based on monitoring more than two dozen pumas in the Santa Cruz Mountains. The presence of humans -- homes, roads, and other development -- means pumas are fearful and stay on the move rather than returning to a kill site to fully consume prey, the study finds

The research utilized data from tracking devices that record not only a puma's movement but also increases in speed and other behavior that signifies hunting behavior. Looking at the actions of 30 animals, the scientists were able to discern, among other things, that, "Females killed 36 percent more deer per year in developed habitats than in areas with little housing."

According to the report, increased kill rates suggest that the pumas are wasting more energy than they would in an environment devoid of human habitations. This also affects the population of prey species, in particular deer.

Studies like this shed light on the complex interdependency of human and non-human species. Architecture is never an exclusively human activity and, more often than not, we dwell at the expense of other species. For more information on this topic, check out Architecture of the Anthropocene (part 1 and part 2).

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Footwear giant Puma accused of defacing 17th century buildings in Delhi for shoe commercial

Housing developments change puma behavior