I was sitting here thinking about the subject of endangered animal species and the idea of certain animal life forms sooner or later becoming extinct.
According to WorldWildlife.org, some of the world's animals currently on the endangered species list are:
Polar Bears Snow Leopards Pandas Meercats Tigers
Penguins Grey Wolves Sea Otters Orangutans Arctic Foxes
Gorillas Dolphins Giraffes Snowy Owls Chimpanzees
Bald Eagles Cheetahs Lemurs Grizzly Bears Tree Frogs
Sloths Manatees Jaguars Tortoises Moose
Seals Sharks Lions Blue Whales Bison
Hippos Rhinos Puffins Zebras Iguanas
Octopuses Anacondas Walruses Crocodiles Toucans
Sea Lions Anteaters Salamanders Woodpeckers Porpoises
There are many more than this, but you get the idea.
I have thought about this issue for many years and I agree wholeheartedly that it is a very sad and tragic thing to see so much of the world's animal population dwindling down to numbers as low as they are today. I wish just as much as any devout animal lover among any of you that all animals could be free to roam and thrive and live out their lives exactly as God intended when He created them.
But, realistically, I see this tragic situation with endangered animal species to be inevitable. I also foresee the situation becoming increasingly worse and worse, not better. There will eventually come a time when all wild animals of the world will meet one of three fates:
A. They will become permanently and forever extinct.
B. They will be kept alive in zoos through artificial means.
C. They will be kept in very small refuges and animal preserves.
The fate of all the wild animals in this world will eventually be one of those three choices, or some combination of the three. In my limited perspective, I cannot imagine anything else for any of the wild animals of this planet. As the population of human beings continues to increase, and the human need for more and more land grows even greater, the situation will one day reach the point where it will be either the animals or us. And, if that is the case, the animals are going to lose.
This is not based on my own personal opinion or perspective, this is based on plain logic and common sense. All the wild animals of the world will one day either be kept in some sort of man-made environment or they will be dead. This tragic scenario I am painting here may not happen for many, many years, but it WILL happen. In fact, unless human beings radically and drastically reduce the rate at which they reproduce and change the way in which they use land for places to live, work and shop, this scenario may become a reality much sooner than anyone currently imagines.
However, regardless of whether all this comes to pass sooner or later, it will inevitably come to pass. In the end, the wild animals of this world will not win. They will either be contained in some way or they will be killed. When the human population of the world reaches that point, there will be no third alternative. The only "wild" animals that will still roam freely will be the ones which can adapt and somehow fit into human social civilization, such as mice, rats, pigeons, squirrels, and as various human pets do now.
I realize that what I am writing here is very, very sad. Believe me, I despise having to admit the truth of such a scenario or accept the inevitability of such a future reality. But the handwriting is on the wall, as the saying goes. The tragic threat that we see to all the endangered species of animals in the world today is merely a small and bitter taste of far worse things still to come. I wish I could say that this was just my own personal pessimism. But, logically and rationally, I cannot see any other outcome.
recommend this
email
print
link to this page
Comments: 56
I can quote scripture and prophecy, because I know that they foretell mass destruction of mankind with only a portion surviving. But not everybody believes in that.
So I will just say use common sense. A species that kills its children in the womb cannot long increase.
Do you understand how many species have been eliminated over time, by simple evolution ??
Are we to lament the loss of dinosaurs ???
There is nothing to suggest the earth inherently REQUIRES all of the various animals we have on the planet. Species come and go nearly every day. We discover new species of animals all the time.
Mammalogists are still discovering new species. While most of the world's large and obvious species were discovered before the 1900s, new species are still described every year. Many of these new species have never been seen before by a human eye, and are only now discovered through persistance or luck. Other new species are discovered or "split off" from related species after new techniques show them to be unique. SOURCE
We discover new plants as well. I believe it is highly misguided to see the extinction of any one particular species, as a threat to our existence.
I also do not believe the possibility of animals all being in cages, and unable to roam freely in natural habitats. The world is already far past the human population many experts told us would cause worldwide famine, yet there are free roaming animals EVERYWHERE on EVERY continent.
I think it is a bit naive to believe the planet will ever change, to the point that wild animals are not a part of this amazing planet.
But like the rat they may adapt, as we become more and more urban, living on this smalll and increasingly overcrowded island , we don't have the open spaces that you in The USA have .
Try reading again, "The Population Bomb" by Paul Ehrlich, just to give you an idea of how long we've been listening to the Chicken Littles of the world, expecting the sky to fall at any moment.
Just check out this messianic prediction that didn't come true--
"The battle to feed all of humanity is over. In the 1970s and 1980s hundreds of millions of people will starve to death in spite of any crash programs embarked upon now. At this late date nothing can prevent a substantial increase in the world death rate…"
Or perhaps this tidbit--
a minimum of ten million people, most of them children, will starve to death during each year of the 1970s. But this is a mere handful compared to the numbers that will be starving before the end of the century"
And who can forget ??
Believing that the United States could only support a population of 150 million, Ehrlich proposed that "luxury taxes could be placed on layettes, cribs, diapers, diaper services, [and] expensive toys…" and suggested giving "responsibility prizes" to couples who went at least five years without having children or to men who got vasectomies. Ehrlich reserved his most strict treatment to India. He argued for the forced sterilization of all Indian men with three or more children.
Sorry, but I don't need a snake oil salesman selling me fear I don't really need.
We've heard from the chicken littles of the world, nearly since man could speak. It's easy to be a prognosticator, when you have nothing riding on the credibility of your predictions.
The simple fact is, there isn't enough data to make the claim mankind is to blame for global warming, or in this case, the demise of our furry friends.
We don't know how many species have been lost over the millennia, we don't know if the all of the species we now have on the planet, are required for the planet's survival.
There are some among us that will tell you we are made less, by exploiting the very planet we inhabit. Then again there are some that will tell you the earth is mankind's dominion, and we are free to use the resources we find, as we see fit.
I am not defending a damn thing, as Mother Nature is fully capable of defending herself, not just from mankind, but any other natural calamity that might come her way.
Let's just say for argument's sake, it disturbs the ecosystem whenever a species is lost--- what would you propose to do about it ???
Build another Noah's ark ??
We don't have the capacity/ability/knowledge to save anything from self destruction or planned obsolescence. Evolution has a far greater hand in what survives, and what doesn't, than mankind ever will impact our world.
When one has the facts, one need not get defensive.
"There are some among us that will tell you we are made less, by exploiting the very planet we inhabit. Then again there are some that will tell you the earth is mankind's dominion, and we are free to use the resources we find, as we see fit."
That's what I thought.
Extinction is indeed a natural process IF, and that's a big if, it is a consequence of "natural selection" that occurs in response to natural changes in the earth or the creature's environment - AND - if the extinction leads to, or benefits a superior, more capable species with a better strategy for success. What is happening now is out of balance with the natural order. Species are dying out at an unprecedented rate and not because they are being replaced by superior organisms but because their environments are being destroyed at a pace that cannot support the relatively slow adaptation of that particular plant or creature and cannot support the introduction of other more suitable life forms. Indeed some habitats are being altered in ways that will not support life at all. What we are witnessing now is the extinction of species in a time frame that rivals the five previous great extinctions of the past ages of the world, with one major exception. It is being caused by us.
Here are some of the startling things you will consider: that dinosaurs didn't die out 60 million years ago as a result of "not adapting" ...they were swept up in a massive flood that carried them off mountaintops, and buried them enmasse, in vast basins like Dinosaur National Monument in eastern Utah., the Dakotas, and the Western Gobi.
It gets worse...they were in great numbers on the earth a mere 5 or 6 thousand years ago. There was one ice age, and one ice age only. It has been melting ever since; the continents have been draining ever since- all continents on earth becoming ever more dessicated/desertified.
One researcher recently discovered leathery tissue from a TRex thighbone. And within that, dessicated red blood cells. These could not possibly have remained after 60 million years. The oil and gas we burn today is from the organic flora and fauna buried in the same flood.
The most difficult thing of all for 'modern man' today is to let go of evolution. It has become a sacred belief system, complete with vehement, outraged "followers"... following along with the earth and animals...a 'mother nature' mentioned above. Indeed, the very notion of a 'mother nature' betrays evolution as a faith based belief system. We have "faith" that one day, we will find the millions of 'trial and error" efforts of the dinosaurs "evolving" into birds. We have not...and we will not.
This planet is not our home. We are all strangers in a strange land "passing through".
Virtually all who reject that notion...will not pass through. But the animals will ! You will see them all on the other side.
For instance, when the oil stops we will be much weaker and probably not as prone to 1984 the animal kingdom like you propose. And even if we still trudge on without oil, we will be sustaining ourselves on corn, wind and sunlight. There won't be much expendable energy going around and we'll either hit a population plateau, or become extinct ourselves. How's that for personal opinion?
Speaking of mindlessly gorging on natural resources, if we completely wipe out everything except what we've domesticated, we might actually be fine. It will be sad, to be sure, but this place is what we make of it.
Kathleen, the basic mechanism of evolution is natural selection, which occurs within the scope of a species, at the level of individual genes. Extinction is what happens to a species as a whole, when that genome doesn't exist anymore. And it seems that quite a few posts here ignore the fact that in drawing a line in the sand between us and everything else (man / beast), we also draw a line between a conscious, deliberate eradication of flora and fauna and one species falling prey to its environment. If anyone wants to reclassify us all as beasts (what do we have, language and a propensity to do the wrong thing?), I'm all for it. It makes everything going on around us a lot easier to swallow.
As a lifelong environmentalist, I would like to bring your attention to an urgent situation which requires your immediate action. The issue concerns an impending scientific experiment which has potentially catastrophic, irreversible consequences and whose outcome is poorly understood even by scientists in the field. Please carefully read the website at the address below and make your own decision as to what your organization can do. If you are involved in any aspect of protecting our environment, you will see that this issue is both critical and immediate and that it personally involves each of us.
http://www.risk-evaluation-forum.org/
I would like to one day live without racism and all the evils that man bring upon man but realistically I know that as long as we live with the wicked ones we will allow them to make our lives unbearable. We don't want to die and we fear anything that brings this feature to our existence. So as we watch the wildlife coming extinct, we also watch as mankind destroys every form of humanity there is.
Feel sorry for the animals but also while we look across the road and see the last woodpecker making a home for a family that may not exist; look over at your neighbor and think if one day they will be mentally uprooted and pursue a life and death mission that will cause you and your family to live your last breaths.
I WISH WE COULD ADMIT THAT WE REALLY AND TRULY LOVE EACH OTHER...
True, there is not much time due to rapidly increasing populations, but we do have a window to address many issues and make changes based on reality and need and not on spin and greed.
It is amazing how quickly politicians change with public opinion. We make a choice here, substanially reduce our human incursion and consumption or watch as more species become extinct or theatened(including our own). Let the politicians and leaders know our choice.
Our education levels are high, our communication capabilities are fantastic and ability to uncover truths and present them is unprecidented.
We don't have to follow that road of self-fulfilling prophesy of futility. We can and we must change.
Certainly...if one's life is in danger, one should protect at all cost, but we as a society have poked and prodded until these animals have no choice but to take care of their business. Now I am really done. I have to feed the foxes.
What about the NAIS they are requiring of all the farmers. They MUST tag EVERY animal from cows to fish. This is for tracking the food supply, what else?
They are also TAXING animals $175 each because of the fradulant global warming scam - they emit methane gas into the atmosphere! And, they are SERIOUS! How many farmers, who loose more money most years, than they make money - will be able to stay in business?
Next, the RFID for us - the chip which is the mark of the beast. They NOW take the DNA of ALL newborns and put in in their new, super huge, super fast, data base. Obama says ALL our medical records must be on line within 5 years.
Then, they want to put your medical records, your financial records, your will, and all your once private business on that chip.
What are you going to do about it? Will you support the farmers first - before they come for you?
As the numbers of farm animals reared for meat, egg, and dairy production rise, so do their GHG emissions. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA 2004) has noted thatGHG emissions from livestock are inherently tied to livestock population sizes because the livestock are either directly or indirectly the source for the emissions.
This has been proven to cause global warming.
Very interesting post...bless your heart for caring Berf...
Honestly, I think there will always be uninhabitable places on earth for humans, so in those places, the animals will still flourish (the rain forests of South America, the deserts of Africa, the outback of Australia), because people tend to build UP rather than journey into unknown territory anymore...
Of course, confining them to these areas, even as big as they are, would fall in the third category...
I don't know, I have a feeling something major will happen to the world before the animals all become extinct.