Endangered species: African Dictators. Is this the time for democracy to finally reach all the way into Africa, spreading from the northern African lands of Arab regimes and dictators? Isnt Might Is Right the only way to keep stability for cultures still clinging to primitive tribal systems and customs so at odds with the 21st century?
Deciding to do an article on the endangered mammals of Africa started with the intention of listing the Top Ten, like a hit parade that will get attention.
What this meant was I needed to get hold of a list of animals in Africa that are threatened, endangered or near extinction, and as I started digging the list grew to a staggering 350 animals, and counting.
Clearly we are treating our natural heritage with total disregard and with such contempt that we will soon face a fate similar to the mysterious inhabitants of the Easter Islands. There, scientists tell us the Polynesians who first arrived found a temperate paradise, lush and green, covered in forests. In a classic tale of greed and ignorance, as the population grew, the island was eventually stripped clean and ended up the wasteland that it is today. From a peak of almost 20 000 inhabitants, merely a few thousand survive today.
To think this could never happen in Africa, or in today’s enlightened age, is not only short sighted, but ignorant. With populations in Africa clinging to out-dated and primitive traditions, overgrazing is but one of the threats faced. De-forestation, the senseless killing of Rhino‘s for a product that is essentially compressed fingernails and hair, exotic animals for pets, the list just goes on. Wouldnt that be fun, to live on a continent as lush as what the Easter Islands were, but is now a desert, devoid of life and sustenance.
Perhaps with dictators falling, and the people flexing their muscles, this is the time to start re-building our societies, from the basic foundations up. Getting back to our roots, to basic good practices of living in tune with nature, taking what can be replenished, giving back, nurturing, and safeguarding our future. We come from a distant past of living as one with the earth, and now is the time to move on from this failed unsustainable disposable lifestyles that we have created. Now is the time to take responsibility for our future. Waiting for governments to govern isnt going to cut it, it is up to us. We are the ones who put the governments in place, and then ironically spend our lives whining at how useless they are. Who is to blame?
If you are still reading this and are a sucker for punishment, here is that list of endangered Mammals….and birds….and reptiles….and…..