 |
| Walter J. Palmer showing off his machismo. |
Courtesy of
Vox:
In early July, a dentist from Minnesota named Walter James Palmer traveled to Zimbabwe, lured a male lion out of Hwange National Park, and shot him to death. The twist? This was no ordinary lion. No, Cecil the lion was a popular tourist attraction, and so now half the internet has erupted in outrage over his death.
It's a grisly tale. But it's also not an isolated case. Not even close. Over the past four decades, humans have managed to kill off a staggering number of wild animals worldwide — from charismatic lions and rhinos right down to lowly frogs. Most of these deaths don't spark anywhere near the furor that Cecil's did. But they certainly add up.
A major recent survey by the World Wildlife Fund estimated that the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish worldwide has declined a whopping 52 percent between 1970 and 2010. The main culprits? Humans. Mainly through hunting, fishing, deforestation, pollution, and other forms of habitat destruction. Statistically speaking, Cecil's death at the hands of a person was more likely than not.
When people refer to human beings as a cancer on this planet they could not be more accurate.
And the thing is that we know better, and yet we still cannot accept the responsibility of caring for the creatures whose lives are put into jeopardy by our very existence, much less by our need to demonstrate dominance over them.
I have to say that in this area my daughter is my moral superior, as she is a strict vegetarian who contributes time and money to conservation projects. Especially towards the protection of elephants who hold a special place in her heart.
We all have to do much, much better or else someday children will be learning about lions the same way that we all learned about the
Dodo bird.
P.S. Speaking of big brave hunters killing animals the Zimbabwe officials are calling for
the extradition of Palmer to face charges for killing Cecil.
