Making a Difference

This article was published in my e-zine, Storytime Tapestry and gather.com

Today I was watching an animal rescue program that really disturbed me.
This program prompted me to think about just what we are doing to our
animals in the world today. This program discussed the possibility of the
distinction of animals in the wild.

My personal conclusion is that no matter what the reason humans seemed
to be at the bottom of it. The program forced me to revisit what I already knew about human involvement in the animal kingdom and take a hard look at the reality it presents.

One of the most common forms of human involvement facilitating animal
extinction, as we know it, is reducing their numbers through trapping and
killing. While trapping one species, other animals have been caught in traps
and then discarded to die in agony. In turn, poaching has threatened many
species. For example, 95% of the world's tiger population has been depleted due to either starvation (as other animals such as the elk that they feed on become scarce) or direct poaching.

Directly or indirectly, poaching is responsible for the depletion of much of
the animal population. Going back to the example of the tigers, as we hunt
one species and threaten its existence, we are in turn depleting the food
supply of another. Thus the latter species is destined to die of starvation.

The animals of the world, as well as humans, are part of an ecosystem that
provides a system of natural check and balances. Hunting and killing off one population that may pose a threat to our human existence or are simply used for our own vanity (killed to make fur coats) threatens our very existence.

We, in our short sightedness, have failed to realize the effects that this human intervention will bring upon other species that in turn may also become a nuisance or a threat to our existence. For example, we have learned that killing spiders has produced epidemics of flies. Now flies in some parts of the world are no longer kept in check by this natural predator.