Since there are more than 7 billion persons on earth, the surviving rhino’s, elephants, tigers, lions, and other wildlife cannot survive the human onslaught. There are some humans who are determined to slaughter the remaining wildlife for recreation, for Viagra, for ornaments and a host of malignant reasons.
According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered, Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (Cites) more than 250 000 elephants were poached last year.
Two centuries ago, visitors to the Southern Cape would have seen herds of Elephant, Bontebok, Zebra and Quagga roaming and pods of Hippo in the rivers.
Legislation and penalizing those who massacre endangered species have proven futile. Protesting and campaigns have little results. What is required is a radical breed of eco-warriors that have primarily the survival of nature at heart. Like democracy and freedom activists who often fiercely struggle against unjust regimes, naturalists must consider similar methods. Humans who threaten wildlife with extinction are at war with our collective humanity. The wellbeing of future generations which this generation holds as a sacred trust is at risk.
More than a century ago Khalil Gibran wrote “Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky; we cut them down and turn them into paper, that we may record our emptiness”.
Why must we allow some greedy and ignorant humans to pollute every river, cut down every tree and kill every wild animal before we realize that we are not the earth’s only dependants?
Cllr Yagyah Adams
Cape Muslim Congress
City of Cape Town