The music is somewhat questionable, but I thought this video was pretty flipping sweet especially spider kitty on the mountain. 3:47 was probably the coolest thing I've ever seen.
"Are We Seeing the Last Lions?"
I came across this article on CNN.com, provided by the notable TED and by National Geographic explorers Dereck and Beverly Joubert. The article startled me - I had no idea that there were only twenty thousand lions left in the world. TWENTY THOUSAND! And even worse, there are only about five thousand tigers left when we once had eight different subspecies of the Kings of the Jungle. The idea of several species of big cats becoming extinct during my lifetime is quite painful to me. When I was little, I revered these animals. They are so beautiful and elegant in their power, each cat with its own extravagant talent. Cheetahs are the fastest land mammals in the world, and there are only twelve thousand left. Snow leopards aka spider kitties can leap seven times their own body length but only about four thousand remain. If the purpose of this article was to shove a stick in the side of its readers and wake them UP, good job. Can you imagine your child seeing the picture below and asking, "What is that in the mirror?" You would have to describe to him or her why the lion was such a creature of pride and dignity, but no description written or spoken could ever match the shocking awe you feel when you see a lion in real life, and you realize just how enormous and fearsome they truly are.
Dereck Joubert then turns the reader's attention to the facts of the matter. Not only are big cats eye candy, they are often vital lynch pins in ecosystems that would collapse without their existence. Not only would their disappearance affect the population of other animals within their environment, the very earth itself would shift at the death of these creatures. Herbivores will overgraze and destroy habitats, perhaps even causing species of plant life to also become extinct. Think of something as small as one man killing one male lion to take as a trophy. That's fine, no big deal. What's one lion in the big scheme of things? In reality, now another male lion is going to join that pride, and he will kill all the cubs, decimating an entire generation of lions with that one small kill. We often don't think about the long term consequences of our actions, but perhaps this can be a wake up call to spread enlightenment to society. In my opinion, people don't care because they don't know, and it is going to take a global collective effort to save these animals if we really want to keep them around. Sure, our economy thrives on the construction of new businesses and whatnot, but is it so critical to conquer the entire earth? Is it too hard for humans to learn a thing or two about spacial reasoning or sharing?
Sadly, the main things that cause the extinction of most species is the destruction of their natural habitat, loss of available prey, and human hunting: anthropocentrism at its best. We hunt these animals for sport and for jewelry, but anytime there is a mountain lion or tiger attack, the media feeds on the concern for safety by the community, and they turn the cats into these dangerous killers who should be feared and destroyed when in reality most big cats tend to avoid humans. They regard us as predator not prey, but what choice do they have when we've taken their homes and their food from them? Rationally speaking, there isn't much anyone can do about the population growth of humans and the fact that we simply take up a lot of space. We cannot help it if we need more room to build shopping malls and Taco Bell's... but then again, do we really need all of these things? Cemeteries, for example, take up an enormous amount of space that was once a lush habitat for some exotic creature. Wouldn't you rather see a Jaguar up close lounging in a tree as you walk to class than a sea of crumbling deathbeds? I wouldddd.
As we've delved into this more, we have learned more about the problems facing these extraordinary creatures. All the problems focus on human-predator conflicts, from the collection of hunting trophies as sport -- an activity that is terribly damaging to wild populations of cats -- to flashpoints between the cats and cattle cultures.
Dereck Joubert then turns the reader's attention to the facts of the matter. Not only are big cats eye candy, they are often vital lynch pins in ecosystems that would collapse without their existence. Not only would their disappearance affect the population of other animals within their environment, the very earth itself would shift at the death of these creatures. Herbivores will overgraze and destroy habitats, perhaps even causing species of plant life to also become extinct. Think of something as small as one man killing one male lion to take as a trophy. That's fine, no big deal. What's one lion in the big scheme of things? In reality, now another male lion is going to join that pride, and he will kill all the cubs, decimating an entire generation of lions with that one small kill. We often don't think about the long term consequences of our actions, but perhaps this can be a wake up call to spread enlightenment to society. In my opinion, people don't care because they don't know, and it is going to take a global collective effort to save these animals if we really want to keep them around. Sure, our economy thrives on the construction of new businesses and whatnot, but is it so critical to conquer the entire earth? Is it too hard for humans to learn a thing or two about spacial reasoning or sharing?
