What's That Funny Smell?
The "endangered species" list is a strange concept. In reality there are hundreds, probably thousands of species that are endangered, and hundreds of thousands more that no longer exist. The only ones that make the list are the ones we've either hunted to extinction or whose habitat we've destroyed making it impossible for them to reproduce. Our quest for food isn't the problem. If something dies out, like the woolly mammal, we just move on to a new food source. It's our appetite for stuff that's at fault, furs and crocodile skins and ivory, all the things that are expensive and wind up being sold on Fifth Avenue. A list isn't going to help. It'll take a major pardigm shift in our appetites for ways to flaunt our wealth in the same way that aborigines will often cover their bodies with trinkets.
posted by John M Crowther @ 7:12 AM
5 Comments:
Terrific cartoon, John C.
John... the crocodile skin industry is now highly regulated. Due to pressure from the green movement culling in the wild ceased here many years ago and (like kangaroos)their numbers are now reaching plague proportions. When crocs venture into populated places (which is happening more and more) they are generally captured and removed to somewhere safe (for us that is)... usually to a farming facility or zoo.
It is only a matter of time before someone is taken by a croc in a highly populated place (I kid you not!) and then it will be on for young and old that we should have continued to cull them to a manageable number.
The coastal cassowary is another story though... with less than 1500 birds left in existence there is a real need to protect this species from extinction. They have never been sought after as a commodity but natural disasters such as cyclones along with some human influence have taken their toll and severely impacted their habitat. Whilst they are very beautiful and very intelligent I have wondered if their endangered status is due to some sort of natural selection as they are a somewhat cumbersome and flightless bird. Nature has a way of weeding out what doesn't work?! So that speaks volumes for the croc then doesn't it? LOL I guess that's the reason we still have this prehistoric creature here today and still in abundance!
>>… with less than 1500 birds left in existence there is a real need to protect this species from extinction… Whilst they are very beautiful and very intelligent I have wondered if their endangered status is due to some sort of natural selection as they are a somewhat cumbersome and flightless bird. <<
Isn’t the reason that your coastal cassowary and other avians such as the ostrich, emu, penguin and kiwi are flightless is because they’ve never had to be? Up until now they’ve been able to ward off or escape their predators without taking wing. Here in America we have a species known as the bi-coastal cassowary; they commute between Manhattan and Hollywood in all seasons. The b.c. cassowary (AKA the ac/dc/bc cassowary) have claws on their feet and wings to use as a weapon against agents and cumbersome producers. In the case of our cassowary, is it not so much a case of natural selection as it is survival of the fittest or thinnest.
>>Isn’t the reason that your coastal cassowary and other avians such as the ostrich, emu, penguin and kiwi are flightless is because they’ve never had to be? Up until now they’ve been able to ward off or escape their predators without taking wing<<
That was before cars were invented! ~grin~
And before the met bureau started tracking the cyclones which strip the rainforest bare of berries and fruit and leave the hapless birds with no choice but to cross the road like the proverbial chicken to forage in human backyards... not safe practice for any species wishing to survive the modern day elements IMHO! LOL
>>...In the case of our cassowary, is it not so much a case of natural selection as it is survival of the fittest or... [thinnest]<<
I have just the story for you Il Prof... pour yourself a coffee and come on over when you're ready... www.jeanburman.com
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