A google alert for “overpopulation” apprises me of current news on the topic. Sadly, about 95% of the articles deal with humans complaining about animal overpopulation.  Most of the articles have to do with dogs and cats who end up killed or homeless, but other articles frequently lament the number of deer, or other birds and mammals. We have failed to heed the warning of Native Americans many years ago who asked us to consider living in harmony with all other life forms. In Japan, they consider dolphins “pests” because they depend on sealife, fish, for their existence. We humans do not need to eat fish, but we want them, and therefore have pitted our selfish desires against the very existence of a species who must rely on the fish. We kill and eat the dolphins, which due to our abuse and negligence of the oceans are now inundated with mercury, thereby endanger little Japanese schoolchildren who are given the mercury-laden fare in school lunch programs. (For more information, see this review of The Cove).  And while we are fighting the dolphins for the fish, we are taking so much that the oceans may be completely depleted of sea life in the very near future. Who is overpopulated? Who is destroying the ecosphere? It would seem like it isn’t the animals, it is the deadly spread of humanity.

Increasing Human Population and Declining Animal Species and Habitat

In 8000 BC, it is estimated that there were about 5 million humans on planet earth.  By 1000 BC, we had increased our numbers to about 250 million, a 50-fold increase in seven thousand years.  Between 1000 BC and the 18th century, we had increased our human numbers to one billion.  In 1999 we were 6 billion and in only a little more than the last decade, our numbers have added nearly another billion.  The earth is not growing nor are the resources increasing; in fact, with deforestation and overfishing of oceans, they are declining. It is worth noting, too, that when researching wildlife population, the word “control” almost invariably follows the words “wildlife population.”  Perhaps we humans need an attitude adjustment.

Between 1970 and 2003, only 33 years, the terrestrial animal population is estimated to have declined by 31%.  The marine life may well have undergone a much more severe decline, with reports on marine life being even more disturbing.  Various species have already become extinct.  Some scientists are warning that we are undergoing global species extinction at an unprecedented rate. The biggest threat to vertebrate extinction in the United States is destruction of habitat and in China, overexploitation of animal species.

Unless the bulk of humanity can pressure world leaders in the very near future, we will continue to grow like mold on an orange.  And we all know what happens to the orange in that scenario.

Native American Wisdom

Back to those Native Americans – here is a profound Cherokee legend that is relevant:

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. “A fight is going on inside me,” he said to the boy.

“It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil – he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego.” He continued, “The other is good – he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you – and inside every other person, too.”

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, “Which wolf will win?”

The old Cherokee simply replied, “The one you feed.”

It is up to us – which one will we feed?

1. The Global Population Dynamics Database
2. WWF Living Planet Index
3. Relationship Between Animal Population Density and Area
4. Threats to Vertebrate Species in the United States and China

How does one get through everyday life when it includes a continuing awareness of the abject misery to which we subject endless animals, children and humans? How do you live within your own skin when others of your species are so abjectly cruel? Over the holidays, when I was placed at a table next to a “ham,” I could not help but consider the pig that was the living being, treated so dismally, slaughtered without mercy, eaten without consideration.  I saw the beheaded bird that had been deep fried and reminded me of the burnt Americans that were seen in the film, Fahrenheit 9/11.  The same frightening disengagement from what I used to call “humanity” is in evidence in both scenarios, whether the protestors on the streets or the holiday participants.

Joyous Vegans?

A recent article charged that too many vegans are too serious, too smug, too self-righteous. While some of the negativity may be defensiveness, some of it may be earned. Yes, I am very serious about the destruction of the planet, of animal habitat, of rainforests, of climate predictability.  I am serious about overpopulation and poverty, war, famine and human trafficking. I am very certain that factory farming is a disgusting, unjust, and intolerable practice that must stop. I have contacted people who have left some of those comments; one told me he was just sniping.  That is a good thing, because it may mean we are hitting a nerve.  But now I have to be joyous, too?

Sometimes I am, maybe even most of the time. I am pretty much always optimistic and hopeful. But when you spend most of your day researching what is going on in the world, it is not always easy.  It is more of a determination than a natural occurrence.  I recently watched the film, The Cove, and was riveted during the entire, tense documentary.  At the end, I had an unexpected reaction: big, wracking sobs – not a little sniffle, mind you, but deep, gut-wrenching grief welling up from a place of which I was unaware.  Who are these people? How did this happen?  Then I saw the redemption of one man in the film, and I think of that scene – one man, walking the streets, walking across a board meeting, a conference, with a display of what is going on strapped to his chest. One man trying to make something right that he set in motion years ago. If one man can change, all of us can change. We must.

The Price for Knowing

Watching documentaries daily about many things that pertain to the environment and animal life keeps me continually learning, sometimes things I wish I did not know and had not witnessed. On a recent comment attached to a posted article, someone said they wish they had a bucket of sand in which to place their head, since so many other people seem to go about their lives, happy and oblivious. While I know that feeling, I do not really want to be oblivious, but there is a price for awareness. And an even bigger price for not having the awareness, because then the animals really lose and the rest of us do, too. Until there is justice for all, there is justice for none.

So some days I weep. I stop work, usually in the morning or after witnessing something with the emotional impact of Earthlings or The Cove, and I weep.  I then take a deep breath, dry my eyes, and continue on.  I silently apologize to all the animals who will lose their lives that day, and then get back to work. There is a lot of work to be done.