Can we make a Rhino?

July 9, 2010

19 years ago my invitation read: “On May 6th (1991) 1000 guests will gather to join one of the world’s special people to celebrate 30 years of discovery and revelation, and raise critically needed support for animals worldwide.”

The event, honoring anthropologist Jane Goodall was chaired by the late actor/animal activist Jack Lemmon, and the honorary chair was none other than Michael Jackson.

“All the kings horses and all the kings men” were at the Beverly Hilton that night, but even they and Jane Goodall have not been able to stop the rapid decline in species throughout Africa and the rest of the world.

Polar bears on thin ice, no longer gorillas in our midst, African elephants poached for their ivory, tigers being decimated; as we humans put another 75-80 million new folks on the planet yearly. As the human animal breeds itself towards extinction we are already assuring the homeland of many of the majestic creatures of the planet will no longer be viable to sustain a healthy population.

We hear the ridiculous cry of humans first with a right to take whatever they need for their survival; not recognizing that the gift of creation is a package plan where all is connected, related, and inter-dependent. Yet, many continue to preach and the spotted owl, snail darter, or the El Segundo butterflies be damned. For years we have been cavalier about the disappearance of the invisible workers in the soil and seas of the planet. Out of sight and out of mind works pretty well for millions of us, and microbes and phytoplankton do not rank high on our evolutionary scale; even though their disappearance will not be beneficial to the human family. Thankfully, most of us feel compassion for the plight of the black rhino, or the Sumatran tiger, or the blue whale and want to do something about their plight. We have feelings of empathy for the panda’s, orcas, koala’s to name a few of the cuddly among us, but someone we are becoming increasingly detached from the plight of animals that Jane and her colleagues have spoken about for decades.

Persons of scientific substance with a long history of commitment to the creatures of the planet; folks with etymology, or biology, or zoology as part of their life work has demonstrated how fragile the world of animals on the planet really is.