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Letter To Evolved Animals
That Will Rule The Earth!   |
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When Animals Rule The Planet Earth
 Dearest
Dogs Who Know 200+ Words, Monkeys Who Walk On Their Hind Legs, and All
Other Rapidly Evolving Animals,
I've read
enough science fiction to know I should be apologizing on the behalf
of the entire human race for pollution, war, and our many other atrocities,
up to and including reality television. You animals are getting smarter
by the minute, and that means our days are numbered. I've seen "Planet
of the Apes"! (The Orginal, Of Course)
Until recently
I've been primarily apologizing to dolphins, as I thought they were
the species that would be voted, "Most Likely to Evolve, Develop
Nuclear Weaponry, and Incinerate Humanity's Sorry Asses."
But I was
wrong! To think, all that time I spent at Sea World, buying you sardines.
Wasted. Just wasted.
The threats
are coming from all sides now. Dogs that can comprehend more than 200
words? That's more than Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie combined. A
monkey that can walk on its hind legs? I can barely do that after four
beers, and I hear monkeys are wasted pretty much all the time.
And these
are just the mammals, who we keep our eyes on! Imagine what the insects
are up to? I've seen "A Bug's Life"! You guys are pretty smart.
And so cute. Have I mentioned cute? Downright adorable. And I'm sorry
for the squishing you with the shoe thing.
So, dear
future animal (or insect, or arachnid) rulers, I would like to present
you with a list of the things I'm most sorry for, in hopes that
when you do take over the planet, you'll spare me:
1. War over religion or idealogy. (Ok, any war at all)
2. Pollution, global warming and Hummers.
3. CBN, The 700 Club and what the heck, Pat Robertson
4. Deforestation.
5. Pat Sajak. (Vanna can stay and hopefully hook up with Alex for the new show - Wheel of Jeopardy)
6. The State of Texas - (We could chop it up and make 4 whole new states!)
7. Starbucks.
8. Reality television.
9. The State of Florida - We can oust all the human folk and let the Croc's rock!) Call it, um, Crocida!
10. Pesticides. (That's a shout-out to you, my future bug rulers!)
I hope you'll keep this list in mind when your plans for world domination come
to their inevitable fruition.
Eternally Yours,
Your Humble Homosapien
Endangered Animals Facts and Statistics
The branch of science that focuses on the protection of the world's species is
referred to as conservation biology. In scientific circles, it is known as a
"crisis discipline"-often called upon to act or advise with little or no
warning, with a limited knowledge base, and frequently dealing with emergency
situations.
In many ways it is similar to a medical emergency room, only the
patients are not humans, but rather are other creatures. The very fact that
conservation biology exists is reason for concern: it is testimony to our
failure to properly steward creation
Science tells us that there are between 5 and 40
million species alive today. Approximately 1.7 million have been identified and cataloged. It's a known fact that millions of
unidentified species exist. How many exactly cannot specifically be determined.
 In the temperate areas, where the great majority of
scientists work and reside, the species are relatively well known. But the
species of the tropics and the deep oceans-where the majority of the world's
species reside-remain largely a mystery. However, the point is not the sheer
number of species; the crisis involves what is happening to known species as
well as to the myriad unknown species.
What are the primary causes of extinction?
Many factors contribute
to the loss of species, including:
- the
impact of introduced ("alien") species,
- pollution, deforestation
- disease out breaks
- excess
hunting and fishing and other forms of harvesting that exploit species at a rate that
exceeds their reproductive potential.(The whales know a little something about this)
But the single largest and expanding
threat is habitat destruction caused by human actions. No species can continue
to exist when its ecosystem-its very home-is destroyed. The occupied habitat of
an endangered species is usually found to be reduced to a fragment of its former
area and is often of marginal quality at best.
Finally, it should be noted that in January 2004, a
major research paper in the journal Nature identified global climate change as a
major contributing factor to species decline, perhaps equal to or greater than
habitat destruction.
What animal species are going extinct?
The best known groups of organisms are birds and
mammals. Since the year 1600, a total of 83 mammals species (2.1%) and 113 birds
(1.3%) are known to have become extinct. This number is expected to rise rapidly
as the breeding populations of many species continue to decline. But even
before the advent of modern
technology, humanity took a heavy toll on creation.
Approximately 70% of the
known bird species have become extinct in the Hawaiian Islands since humans
first arrived. Indeed, large-scale extinctions of Pacific island birds
apparently was widespread. Recent evidence points to a loss from these islands
in excess of 2,000 species following human habitation-a 20% reduction in the
world's bird species.
Evidence also links the colonization of Australia
and North America with the disappearance of many species of large mammals (those
over 100 pounds). More than 50 mammal species have become extinct since the
arrival of humans in North America. A few thousand years ago, the western
grasslands rivaled the great savannas of Africa in terms of the enormous numbers
of animals. Both large grazing mammals and their predators were in abundance.
Where are they today?
Determining present extinction rates and even the
status of most species is difficult for all but a few well-known species groups.
For example, we know that 17 of the 22 crocodile and alligator species are
threatened with extinction from habitat destruction and overhunting. But what
about the world's plants or its insects? Peter Raven, perhaps the world's
leading specialist on tropical botany, has stated that 25% of the world's plant
species are seriously threatened.
What about beetles, which represent approximately a
quarter of all known species? You may be wondering why we should be concerned
about beetles at all. After all, a bird or mammal must be far more important
than a species of insect! Not necessarily. Each species plays a unique role in
the global ecosystem. The loss of any
species has ripple effects across the fabric of creation. In recent studies of
Central and South America, more than 90% of the beetles collected were from
unknown, unstudied species.
A single tree may have as many as 1,200 species of
beetles, of which 20% are specialist feeders that occur only on that species of
tree. There are approximately 50,000 species of tropical trees-each with its
specialist beetle population. If the tree becomes extinct, so will the other
species associated with it. And there are many other types of specialists on
tropical trees besides beetles!
Estimating the
numbers of animals going extinct
There is a direct relationship between the size of
an area and the number of species that it contains. A square yard of temperate
forest habitat may have 10 species of plants, while an acre will often have
hundreds. The larger the area, the more species encountered-up to a point.
Of equal importance is the range of each species.
Species that are restricted to small geographic areas are much more likely to go
extinct than are those with widespread distributions. Also, the smaller the population, the
higher the probability of extinction. And therein lies a disturbing fact. It is
thought that tropical species commonly have smaller populations and much more
restricted distributions. Thus, destroying an acre of tropical forest will
likely have a much higher extinction impact than the loss of an acre of
temperate forest.
Dr. Edward O. Wilson of Harvard University estimates
that if 1% of the world's tropical rain forests are destroyed each year-a
conservative estimate based on current rates of deforestation-then over 100
years there would be a loss of at least 20% of all species, assuming extinction
rates remain constant. Based on a total of 10 million species, the current
annual loss has been calculated to be 20,000 to 30,000 species.
Some studies indicate
that the rate of species loss may be somewhat less, but there is no question
that unless the escalating rate of habitat destruction is reversed, the
extinction toll will continue to rise. And if recent evidence from studies on
global climate change proves to be true, atmospheric modification may become the
major threat to species in the future.
ECOLOGICAL EXTINCTION"
Is a minimum viable population of a species
ecologically extinct already? The answer is probably yes. All species occupy an
ecological niche and contribute to important processes of ecosystem function.
When a species population is reduced to the point that it would qualify as a
"minimum viable population" its contribution to these ecosystem processes is
minimal. Such a species can be considered to be ecologically extinct, even if
its numbers have not yet fallen to zero. Many of our large predators fall into
that category throughout much of their former range, if they exist there at all.
The American Bison, as well as many other species that are not currently listed
by the Endangered Species Act, are already functionally
extinct.
It appears that we are entering a major extinction
episode with unknown global consequences. Long-term ecosystem sustainability
must be our first priority as we carry out our role as stewards of the
planet.
Alternative Thought! Perhaps we should hand the reins over to the animals themselves? After all, one never sees animals
going to war over idealogies or killing one another out of passion, greed or just plain ignorance.
It really begs the question as to which animals are truly the most intelligent. I'm leaning towards
the idea that humans are somewhere between amoebas and spirochetes. I suppose time will indeed tell.
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