Global Terrestrial Mammal Biomass
The daily onslaught against nature that occurs in Taiji, Japan among other places (Faroe Islands, Southern Ocean (by Japan), Africa, etc) is symbolic of the slaughters, murders, and cruelty that happens to wildlife all over the world.
Many of us decry the horrors and atrocities that occur in Japan and China; and their disregard for wildlife, whether dolphins, whales, corals, or fish. However, similar horrors occur all over the world, to all forms of wildlife.
Whether it is pilot whales in the Faroe Islands, tigers in the Indian subcontinent, orangutans in Sumatra, or rhinos, elephants, lions, or giraffes in Africa. It doesn’t matter. Humans have waged war against nature and everything natural.
It is absolutely tragic to think that our own governments condone and encourage the murder of wildlife. And, believe you me, it definitely happens in the United States too.
Look at the pie chart above! Look at how disproportionate the pieces are.
Livestock bred for human consumption far outweigh both humans and wildlife. Yet, wildlife evolved long before humans did. Humans have corrupted the order and well-being of our only home and all that share it.
A recent article in the Guardian reported that as certain species of wildlife becomes ever rarer, the price for that endangered “item” increases. You know, supply and demand. The individuals, the animals with thoughts, with feelings, with the same brain synapses and structures as you or I have been reduced down to their “parts.”
Worse yet, governmental entities in the United States and other nations, their families, and their friends, want to legalize and make hunting endangered wildlife EASIER! They want to transform these beautiful creatures into TROPHIES!
These are not inanimate, inorganic objects fabricated in a machine shop. These were once lives, sentient beings, who just want to live, eat, mate, have family relationships, and BE.
Their only fault was that they were born a non-human species.
Therein lies the most aggravating part. An article in the Washington Post came out saying we don’t need to save endangered species. Extinction is part of evolution. And, while this is, in part, true...the rate at which we are killing off species, and the narcissism needed to write such an article is overwhelming. In fact, the author has the audacity to say that “the world will be none the poorer” for losing a particular species. But, this is where he is so deadly wrong (pun intended).
Each species has its own niche. Each species evolved to fit within its niche perfectly. Each species consumes another species at a specified rate, and is consumed or dies off at a specified rate so that there is a sort-of homeostasis. When one species dies off or goes extinct, yes, maybe some other species will find this advantageous and fill in this newly-created niche; but, the world will certainly be poorer for it. The world will have less biological diversity which in effect, threatens all species.
Look, Earth will be here long after we are dead. The rock, the space it occupies in outer space. But, the bountiful richness of all that was will be gone.
Sadly, what humans do to our planet and its species is genetic cleansing. We commit genocide against others different from us, but so like us. What separates us from these other species that we so vehemently murder daily are a few thousand links in the genetic code. That’s it...A few thousand links.
We enslave, torture, and brutalize billions of domesticated, and wild animals every single day. Look at dog-meat festivals, look at the nearest agricultural farm. Look at swim-with-dolphin programs, or ride-an-elephant excursion. We as an overall species have conditioned ourselves to believe we are the “human masters” of the planet, maybe even in the universe, and in return, we destroy the innocent lives of billions of animals every year, for our greed, consumption, egos, and mental sicknesses.
What humans have done to the animals of the world, whether wild or “domesticated” is a perversion in the greatest sense of the word.
We can fix this. There is still time. We can treat non-human species with dignity and respect. We can work towards keeping their habitats safe and sound. We can eat a plant-based diet which is also cruelty free. We can look into the eyes of non-human species and understand that they are so very like we are.
We teach our children to have compassion for others; why not also teach ourselves.
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