Whose Earth is it, Anyway

So, we humans believe we are the most evolved of species living on Earth. And we conclude, on that premise, that we have the greatest right over Her and all the other creatures that inhabit Her and Her other bounties. We have taken it upon ourselves to think on behalf of every both reliving being that adorns her surface. But, to think of it, we are making a big mistake.

There are about 3500 tigers left in the wild - their natural habitat (according to WWF figures the USA has about 5000-7000 tigers in captivity), some 20,000 African lions and 523 Asian lions (about 7000 live in captivity in Africa alone), 5,00,000 apes in the wild (according to WWF figures), 10,000 known species of birds, 1.7 million whales (only about 80 Southern Killer whales left). Compare these with a human population of 7 billion.

Decreasing rainforests is one of the reasons for a decrease in the Earth’s biodiversity. With the list of endangered species ever increasing, we are depriving our future generations of a more wholesome Earth. Animals in captivity show a great level of stress, besides the fact that they are kept in environments that are not entirely natural to them and made to live contrary to their own nature. Lions are animals of pride; living almost solitary in captivity is going against their natural living mechanisms. 

Why have we given ourselves the right to treat other animals the way we think they must be treated? Animals of the wild can’t be measured by the same yardstick as domestic animals. While dogs like the company of humans, bestowing humans with the privilege of their unconditional love, animals of the wild prefer their own space and way of life. It is not for us to change their preferences, just as we wouldn’t like ours changed. Contamination and disappearance of waterbodies, declining forest cover, reduction of graze lands leave many non-human flora and fauna struggling for life and eventually losing the battle. 

Our misplaced belief that the Earth belongs to us and only us, for our own use and exploitation, has often resulted in the man-wild confrontation and conflict. If we don’t tolerate incursions into our territory, why do we expect that we can intrude into the other Earth - inhabitants’ without even a nominal resistance from them? If we entitle ourselves with the right to use and abuse animals for sports and entertainment, why does it enrage us if they treat us as a meal? Have we every spared a thought that were we to continue exploiting the Earth, future humans may never know the kindness in the eyes of an elephant, the love of a horse or the pride of a lion? 

We must not forget that we have many a lesson to learn from the animals, lessons of unconditional love, the respect for life and freedom of other beings and that laws are sacrosanct (the laws of the jungle, remember?). For, freeing them from our narrow definition of life and living will free ourselves from a world treading cautiously on the brink of a biodiversity - disaster.

If we could understand what the animals thought of us, humans, we might just begin to hate ourselves!