UPDATED: Lament For A Vanishing World

Those who read this blog with any regularity probably know that nature is something near and dear to my heart. I defy people to watch well-made nature documentaries, walk among the creatures we share the world with, or even visit a well-run zoo (I highly recommend the one in San Diego!) and not be struck and moved, as I have been. by the energy and intelligence that pervades our world.

Sadly, much of that energy and intelligence is being lost, as reports show that we are facing drastic reductions in our wildlife populations. The most startling statistic suggests that by 2020, just more than three years from now, the numbers that existed in 1970 will be reduced by two-thirds!

For more hard truth about what looks like a pending mass extinction, check out a post by The Mound of Sound, who writes regularly about matters that affect all of us.

As well, take a look at these two brief video reports to better understand the peril we are responsible for:



The picture for marine life is hardly encouraging either.



These reports are difficult to watch, as they should be. We should all feel not only disheartened but ashamed as we view them, given that our actions as a species have led to this; we need to also urgently understand it is only by responsible and mindful action that we can reverse an increasingly ugly truth.

But do we care? Are we willing to confront our self-indulgence and egoism, modify our wasteful ways, and begin to respect the other creatures we share this world with?

Those are more than rhetorical questions, my friends.

UPDATE: The Star's editorial today suggests measures our government can take to slow this precipitous decline in our animal population, and Thomas Walkom talks about threats to our iconic moose.