The Price of Our Actions?

The “big story” of Christmas had nothing to do with Christmas, but instead was centered on the San Francisco Zoo, where a 17 year old was killed by a Siberian tiger that escaped from its pen. The tiger also attacked two other individuals, but they lived to tell the tale. I’m aware of the fact that zoos have been around for quite a long time and are probably never going away, but we need to reconsider the principal behind zoos themselves. That is, are we putting too much emphasis on conservation in the wrong place, i.e. our zoos? Maybe we should start placing more effort to the actual conservation of lands where endangered and exotic creatures live so that we may view them in their natural surroundings.

When a story of an animal attack hits the national media, we all become aware that we are not atop of the food chain (save for our guns and such). In the case of the Siberian tiger, we are looking at the largest land carnivore on the planet, with the biggest of the males occasionally hitting 900+ pounds. Luckily, the cat that escaped yesterday was only in the 300 pound range, but still managed to crush the skull of the individual she killed. When dealing with that kind of power, the zoos where these creatures are housed must be on top of their respective games at all times in order to protect visitors. No one is sure what happened yesterday, but it is safe to assume that something went wrong. The obvious problem that I have deciphered from the news reports is that there were 4 of these giant cats inside of one enclosure, which would signal that there is a bit of overcrowding.

The UN reports that species on this planet are becoming extinct at 100 times the natural rate; both animals and plants. Due to this mass extinction caused by humankind, some and rightfully so have taken it upon themselves to conserve endangered species. I do not doubt these people at all, as what they do is admirable and unselfish. The conservation movement has shown some of man’s biggest successes of the 20th century (i.e. the return of wolves to Yellowstone or the removal of the bald eagle from the endangered species list). In the spirit of such successes, I believe that we can best help powerful predators and smaller animals alike by not just breeding them in captivity, but focusing more on where they come from.

Yes, habitat is being lost, but it is in the power of governments to protect these habitats. Yes, there are still those that kill endangered species for a variety of reasons, but last time I checked, humans weren’t exactly endangered (if you get my drift). In the case of the Siberian (Amur) tiger, their home range is found in eastern Siberia, just to the south of Vladivostok. The Russian government protects these creatures not with just the force of law, but the force of the gun, as anyone found to be hunting the creatures are jailed and occasionally shot. If that is what needs to be done to protect these creatures and their habitats, so be it. In a sense, I can indeed understand why it is frustrating to be a major player in the conservation movement. But at the same time, there are improvements to be made.