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?
I liked your point about graveyards. There are more graveyards than zoos, and it makes you wonder exactly how much land is taken up by graveyards. Is it really necessary to bury our dead? Or is it just tradition, something that we as humans are used to and so we do it? Personally, my family has always cremated their dead. Not only does having their ashes make you feel more in touch with them, but you don't waste land. It also makes you think about junkyards, or at least for me it did. When I think of wasted land, I think of junkyards. The amount of land taken up by junkyards does not compare to the amount taken up by cemataries
ReplyDeleteAnd land fills and all kinds of nastyness that clogs up our Earth.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great example of how we can relate to being one of the top species and correlates with the subjects that we are discussing in class. But we must realize that the killing of these animals is not hunting it is poaching. When one hunts it is for the nourishment of their lives, but one kills for the sport that is another question. This SUCKS because a lot of people associate hunting with people that kill for fun but in all reality there are a lot of people that sustain their way of life from hunting animals. There are plenty of things in life that we waste, but we must realize it is all about the balance we must obtain.
ReplyDeleteI agree with the garveyard quotes because of the fact that the "main things that cause the extinction of most species is the destruction of their natural habitat". This could be avioded if people had a different ritual on burial. This land could be used for development and that could save the land of natural habitats being destroyed. We could build where graveyards are rather than killing off species because we need their land for human developments.
ReplyDeleteThis is an amazing blog. It truly makes you question humans place in the world. It would appear that nature could live just fine without us, in fact it would flourish without us. But with us here, we are destroying all that was once beautiful. The graveyards are a prime example of humans destroying nature, even in death. The sad thing is that it would be so easy to fix that particular problem.
ReplyDelete"The graveyards are a prime example of humans destroying nature, even in death."
ReplyDeleteI liked dat