If you felt
sorry for the dinosaurs, consider this. At this very moment, we’re in the
middle of a period of mass extinction that’s actually WORSE than the one that wiped
out the dinosaurs. You read that right. More species go extinct at this very
moment than during the last days of the dinosaur!
You see, it took the dinosaurs thousands of years to die out altogether.
Today, the speed of extinction is higher -- much higher. Each day, an estimated
seventy species go bust. That’s seventy species! Gone. Not to be seen ever
again. A few centuries more, and half of all species will no longer be here.
Thanks to the meteor impact called 'mankind'.
Now, that IS a problem. In nature, everything is
linked to everything else. Everything that lives relies on other living things. And the
really bad news is, of course, that we are also part of nature. What would we
eat if it wasn’t for our crops and livestock? Shoes? And what would we breathe?
It would take a library to explain what exactly is happening to the animals
and the plants on our planet. For now, some brief highlights will do, just to
show you how serious and weird matters really are. So enter the cats, the
frogs, the snails, the insects - the whole zoo.
File
# 1:
The Case of Osama Bin Leopard
Remember
Afghanistan? In 2002, the US army used cluster bombs and oxygen
sucking fuel bombs to rid the Afghan caves of Al Qaida bad guys.
Unfortunately, someone else was hiding there too. That was the snow leopard,
one of the rarest animals on the planet.
Just picture it. Osama's bearded boys, holding hands with the mighty
snow leopard in some cave. Then: BOOM! BURN! CHOKE! Bye-bye boys. And
bye-bye snow leopard.
But
while there are plenty of bearded boys left on the planet, the same cannot be
said of the leopard. The animal has probably gone extinct in
Afghanistan by now -- a by-product of war. Few people know of it. And
even fewer seem to care. The mighty predator of the mountains happened
to be a stand in the way in a silly human war over religion, power and
such. At this moment, there are an estimated 5,000 snow leopards left
on the planet. That could be too little for survival.
File
# 2:
The Case of the Evil Cat
As
I write this, Molly the cat is on my lap, having a nap. Lizzy, my
other cat, is outside, chasing birds, or picking a fight with another
cat. You see, my next door neighbor has two cats as well. The
neighbors on the other side have three cats, the neighbors after that
have five. In the street where I live, there are more cats than
people!
And
that is a problem. All those cats catch lots of birds and mice and
rats and butterflies. Biologically speaking, cats are eating a huge
hole in the food chain. No, seriously! According to several alarming
reports, this is exactly what is happening in countries like the
United Kingdom, Sweden and my own country, Holland. Bird species are
vanishing, mouse subspecies are going extinct. All because of Molly,
and Lizzy, and the other many billions of domestic cats that inhabit
the planet today.
Where
would that all lead? A planet, exclusively inhabited by cats and
people? Hmmm. Just take a guess. My cat Molly has left my lap now.
Probably off to catch another mouse.
File
# 3:
The Case Of The "Cute" Panda
Humans
are a friendly species. We like animals. That’s why we can’t stand
it the Bonobo monkey and the Giant Panda are about to go extinct. No
way we’ll let the beautiful lion, the cute chimpanzee or the
impressive elephant go extinct! We build another natural reserve.
But
hold it. In fact, the species we adore are only a slight minority. Who
cares for snails, insects, snakes, lice, or spiders? These species are in
trouble, too. But they’re not cute enough. Humans simply don’t
like them. We’ll let them go extinct, and won’t miss a night’s
sleep over it.
‘Survival
of the cutest’, is the word for that. Biologists use it sometimes
when they argue that we’re protecting the wrong species.
On our lists of ‘endangered species’, there are plenty of
beautiful and furry and funny animals. But no snails, cockroaches or
flees. Not to mention the microbes, that are by far the most important
species on Earth.
File
# 4:
The Case of the Dead Frog
It
is a mystery. Everywhere in the world, frogs are dying. There seems to
be no specific reason for it. Everywhere around, they’re just
kicking the bucket, for no apparent reason. There you have it: the
frog problem.
It could be pollution. It could be the hole in the ozone layer. It
could be a fungus. It could be acid rain. It could be all these things
combined.
Whatever the reason, biologists are very worried. Apart from the
fact that a frogless world would be a rather empty place, the frog
problem could be some kind of warning. Frogs are known to be quite
vulnerable. So who’s next? Us?
File
# 5:
Invasion Of The Killer Rabbits
The
dingo did it. So did the rabbit. They invaded a place where nature
never meant them to be.
Well,
`invaded’ isn’t the right word, really. Humans brought them over,
of course. The Dutch brought their cats to Australia. The British took
foxes and dogs to New Zealand. The mighty Vikings introduced the cute
rabbit in Scotland. The gypsies took the gypsy moth to the US. And
now, there’s trouble all over the place. Down under, there aren’t suppose
to be any predators. In the US, there aren’t suppose to be any gypsy
moths. Nature just didn’t expect it.
So disaster strikes. In the US, about a fourth of the agricultural
gross national product is lost each year to foreign plant pests such
as the dreaded boll weevil (from Mexico) and the leafy spurge (brought
by Europeans). In New Zealand, Australia, Scotland and many other
countries, zillions of rabbits drive the locals insane, digging about
like crazy.
Not to mention those evil, evil cats again. In New Zealand and
Australia, the cats gobble up rare birds and mammals. Such as the
poor, innocent kiwi bird. For crying out loud, the poor thing doesn’t even has
wings! Evolution thought that without cats, there was no need for
wings. But evolution got it wrong.
It isn’t a nice thing to say, but the real problem is mankind.
Humans are in the habit of messing up everything they do everywhere
they go all of the time.
They are a harmful species, these humans -- almost as harmful as cats.
