The other day I read in a magazine that there are thousands of different species of animals, fishes, insects and plants in the world. Many plants for instance that we refer to with one name; like mushrooms, have in fact many numerous species of the same plant.
Apparently, new species are being discover all the time. And many are also dying out or becoming extinct.
This set me thinking. How are we, humans, being affected when a certain species becomes extinct, and is no longer there?
We often see on TV programs of people doing good works trying to save certain animals who are endangered species. The panda for instance. He is particularly reluctant to reproduce, and eats only bamboo which is not very nutritious anyway. Offer him a pizza or a KFC and he'll turn it down. Introduce him to a beautifully sexy female panda and he'll just chew on a bamboo stick instead.
What if ... what if ... there were no more pandas in the world. Would we be any the poorer? Or if there were no more elephants, or rhinos, or whatever. Yes, I know we will miss not seeing such creatures alive in the wild or in zoos. Yes, I know we have a duty and a responsibility to care for all creatures, birds, fishes, insects, plants and so on. I understand that argument.
What I am asking is: are any of these animals, like the panda, contributing anything to humanity? I accept that if there were no more chickens in the world I would certainly miss my KFC. So, chickens contribute to human well-beings. But does the panda, or elephant?
After all, the dodo became extinct some years back. Do we really miss him? Also the woolly mammoth. Does anyone care he no longer exist? And dinosaurs. They all vanished apparently when a meteor hit the earth many moons ago. Personally, I think it was their fault for all to stand on the same spot. They should have spread out and some would have been spared. But that aside ...
... Imagine dinosaurs had not all died out. How would our lives be different?
You'd leave home for work in the morning and by the time you walked to the end of the road a Tyrannosaurus would have you for breakfast. Or you drive your car to the traffic lights and a Triceratops would head-butt your car pretending to be a rhino. Or you're out playing gold and a flying Archaeopteryx would take your hat ... or your wig.
There were many such creatures we collectively call dinosaurs. All shapes and sizes. Look them up on Google.
Somehow, they all got hit by a meteor and were killed in one go. Can you imagine if this had not happened? Humanity would not have progressed to what it is now.
Because at the time all that humanity had was fire, wooden sticks, and possibly clubs. Not much of a defence against a hungry T Rex. And by the time man invented something in order to progress, say a bow and arrow, he would have been eaten by a dinosaur anyway.
Humanity would not have survived and would have been eaten alive, literally, by all these creatures roaming everywhere.
Imagine that. No humanity. No progress. No fancy shoes. No chocolates. No TV. No Shakespeare ... (good thing too about the last one!)
The fate of humanity changed completely that day the meteor struck.
Which brings me back to my first point. What if the panda, or the elephant or any other animal did not exist any more. How will this affect humanity?
...perhaps this is the time to ask you this, how did Noah get all of these thousands of different species of animals in the world into the ark? This has bugged me for years.
ReplyDeleteVery good point, Tom. I've never understood that. It must have been very crowded and difficult to keep some animals apart. How did he make sure the elephants did not step on a slug and kill it? That would have been the end of slugs for ever more.
DeleteAnd some lizards eat bugs. So what did Noah feed them for all these days in the Ark.
Did he take any woodpeckers with him? How did he stop them sinking the whole ship with holes?
God bless.
The Lord created them and told us to take care of them, to tend this Earth-garden, at least that's what i think. And we're doing a lousy job when we don't protect what He's given us.
ReplyDeleteIt's not so much what they do for us, it's more a sign of how we aren't being obedient in our roles as caretakers.
Very good answer, Mimi. Exactly right.
DeleteThe thing is, (and I may be naive here), we spend a lot of money protecting animals from poachers, and other threats, in order to save and preserve the species which is becoming endangered. Would it not be more cost effective to capture as many creatures as possible, transport them to a safer environment, like a zoo or a reserve in another country, where they can breed and multiply safely. I admit they will not be in their natural habitat, but at least they would have been saved, (individually and as a species), in another country where they can be taken care for, provided with veterinary care, and protected from extinction.
God bless.
An interesting idea, i am not sure it would be cost effective, but it's worth thinking about.
DeleteNo, possibly not cost effective, but perhaps really effective in saving those endangered species. Some rare animals are down to 100 units; it said on TV. Sooner or later the poachers will get to most of them. Better to capture as many as possible and move them to safety.
DeleteIt's a bit like all the good works you do with saving cats. You take them to safety and find them a home where they're cared for.
God bless you, Mimi.
Many animals simply do not breed in captivity, so the species would be lost forever unless a few were left in the wild with hunting absolutely forbidden and of course if that were the case there would be no need for zoos etc.
DeleteAgreed. Some animals don't breed in captivity. But if they're left in their native environment they'll disappear anyway. The panda is an example.
DeleteGod bless, River.
Hard questions, Victor. My first instinct was to bury my head in the sand. (Remind you of anything?) I'm left with no answers, but am in total agreement with what Mimi had to say.
ReplyDelete"Bless the beasts and the children....."
I agree with you and Mimi. Yes, we have a responsibility to take care of animals, fishes, plants and insects ... even wasps. But surely it would be easier and cheaper to take those animals who are endangered out of their native environment and transport them somewhere safe.
DeleteIf all the endangered pandas where transported somewhere else, who knows, perhaps we could teach them to eat pizza and KFC and with some soft music and dimmed lights they might learn to be amourous again. See ... I have thought out a solution to save the endangered panda. Maybe we could do the same for other species.
God bless, Mevely.
The existence, and then non-existence of the dinosaurs, I believe, was all in God's planning and His time. No, humans and dinos could never have coexisted. One had to go so we could come on the scene as the Lord planned.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
I never thought of it that way, Martha. This makes me wonder. Why then did God create dinosaurs, (many kinds and species), if they were not meant to co-exist with man?
DeleteAnother thought ... why are they not mentioned in the Bible?
Another other thought ... Noah would have had a real problem getting them in the Ark.
You really have opened up a whole new discussion here, Martha. Perhaps I should ask my priest why dinosaurs are not mentioned in the Bible. Perhaps our readers would also ask their pastors, vicars and so on.
Well done, Martha. God bless.
They are not mentioned in the Bible because that book was written by man, who didn't come upon the scene until the dinosaurs were gone. I believe they were here to eat, poop and generally spread seeds and so on to have the earth green and lush, ready for man's time.
DeleteI am really confused. I thought man was one of the first/early creations. I doubt there was a long period with dinosaurs ruling the earth, and then suddenly, out of nowhere, man turned up.
DeleteGod bless.
Nope, dinosaurs first, then the ice age which killed them and left the earth nicely friable when all that ice melted and grasses, trees etc began to grow, then man came along.
DeleteDearest Victor,
ReplyDeleteFirst off, have to correct you on your writing about bamboo shoots. Bamboo shoots: a novel source of nutrition and medicine: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23391018/
You never have lived nor worked in any Asian country otherwise you would have known how healthy they are! Keep them always in my pantry in the canned form.
Haha, in my humble opinion there are numerous Tyrannosaurus!
How are you out there playing 'gold'...?!
Most Dinos were herbivores, except the T. Rex but that was a minority.
Taking any species out of its natural environment, also includes its optimum climate, is never a good idea!
The whole thing is called evolution and we're still evolving... with that the entire nature.
Hugs,
Mariette
Yes, bamboo shoots can be nutritious to humans, but they don't provide a lot of energy to the panda whose diet is about 99% shoots and leaves.
DeleteGold should have read golf.
If it's a choice of an animal being hunted by poachers in its natural environment, (elephant, tiger, bear, rhino etc ...), or removed out of it altogether I'd guess the latter is the better option; regardless of the climate. But I may be wrong.
God bless, Mariette.
Well Victor, we cannot use it as a kind of aspiring but address the main problem and that is those poachers! Just like criminals ought to be removed from society instead of victims having to immigrate elsewhere...😉
Deleteaspirine of course! At times the spell checker drives one nuts... Aspirine is like treating the consequences but not the cause.
DeleteYou raised good questions.
ReplyDeleteWe need to take care of our world and all that occupy the land, sea and air.
I fear that at the moment we are not doing too well!
All the best Jan
You're right Jan. At the moment we're not doing too well. It said on TV some species (I think it was the white tiger - not sure) are less than a 100 animals left. It seems to me the safest way is to remove as many of these tigers out of reach of the poachers.
DeleteGod bless.
Like Mariette said, remove the poachers.
DeleteIdeally ... yes. But after years of fighting/removing poachers in many countries some animal species are down in numbers to a handful. So a new strategy is needed. Remove the animals before they exist no longer.
DeleteGod bless, River.
Yes we should take care of the animals and the earth that God has given us but I get your point too.
ReplyDeleteIf we do nothing, more creatures will go the way of the dodo.
DeleteGod bless, Happyone.
The comments were as entertaining as your post, Victor. The dinosaurs are a puzzle there is really no verified answer for them disappearing. There are many mysteries from the past which will remain unsolved until God explains it all to us.
ReplyDeleteBlessings!
Yep ... there's no real answer as to why dinosaurs disappeared. I looked them up on Google. There were many many species; land ones as well as air and sea. How could they have all vanished? Some say it was a temperature change, others say it was a meteor.
DeleteI really don't know; but I'm glad I'm not likely to meet one roaming wild when I go out shopping.
God bless, Lulu.
Perhaps there is just a time for a species to check out. We, humans, have only a certain life span and we perish from the earth. Life goes on. I think that a panda or elephant as a species may have lived as long as they needed to. Humanity will go on without them, however; we should take precautions not to hasten their demise. Blessings
DeleteI believe you got it right, Nells. Maybe some species have served their time on earth. Indeed we should help them as best we can in the meantime.
DeleteGod bless.
Humans were alive in the times of the woolly mammoth and sabre toothed tiger and other animals they hunted, for food and clothing, but not in the time of dinosaurs. but even then, I think we would have survived since most dinosaurs were vegetarian. But without any animals at all, I don't think humanity would survive. There would be no fur, feathers or leather for clothing and bedding, no eggs from chickens, no fish in the sea to have with your hot cooked chips. I agree the pandas are largely useless, but if they didn't have a place they wouldn't be here. Elephants were "useful" in the past for their ivory which they 'gave' unwillingly, being killed by human hunters for their tusks and their bodies shamefully left to rot, nothing to be proud of there.
ReplyDeleteI thought humans lived at the time of the dinosaurs. It's in all the films I saw.
DeleteI agree most dinosaurs were vegetarians. Maybe there's a lesson there that being vegetarian is bad for you.
It's part of the food chain that one creature eats another. Including humans eating animals.
God bless, River.