The song says "the lion sleep tonight", but this Beeb story says lions and other predators are close to extinction and will be sleeping forever. From a population of 200,000 just twenty years ago, there are now only 23,000 left in Africa. Cheetahs? 15,000. Wild dogs? 3,500 - 5,000. This carnage that is going on in the earth's biodiversity will haunt (and hurt) us sooner rather than later.
Posted by Joe at September 18, 2003 09:39 PMNobody called me to count my wild dog. Of course, they probably heard that I was going to send her to Cambodia.
Seriously though, this is one of the most depressing things I've heard, but it doesn't surprise me much. Africa is following in the footsteps of the rest of the world. When I lived in Florida (U.S.), I was active in the efforts to save the Florida panther, which at that time was nearing extinction. I am sorry to say that we lost the fight to save the breed in its pure form -- the only way to save the species was to mix them with mountain lions. We all like to see deer in our back yards and other herbivores wandering through the forests, but carnivores are not welcome in man's world. And it sounds like Africa is becoming man's world too. :(
Posted by: Vaneta at September 19, 2003 08:49 AMWhenever we watch any wildlife programmes on TV my wife always points out to the boys that the biggest pest on Earth is in fact man. It is very difficult to make a counterpoint. Those decreasing numbers are testament to the fact that things are going wrong in a big way. Some solutions: eat less meat, procreate less and slow down the use of resources. Maybe a bit heavy to take all that on in the comments section of a blog though. ;+)
Posted by: Joe at September 19, 2003 04:48 PMIn the 'eat less meat' category, certainly the biggest single step is to stop eating fast-food hamburgers. This is what's driving the daily destruction of hundreds of acres of virgin rain forest: it's being cleared to make grazing land for the stuff that sits between the sesame seed buns.
Posted by: DJ at September 19, 2003 09:58 PMMeu... Eu não entendi nada do que está escrito nesse blog, então eu vou comentar o quê aqui??? heuheuhuehue Fazer o que, normal... normal... Isso é muito comum acontecer, ainda mais quando se trata de um blog de outro país. Mas tude bem, do mesmo jeito vou deixar meu recadinho aqui no seu blog "maneiro". heheheheh. Beijos Rose
Posted by: ROSEANE at November 17, 2003 02:42 AMEu não entendi nada do que está escrito nesse commen t!
Posted by: Joe at November 17, 2003 08:16 AM