What does this have to do with Elephants you say? Let me pose this: how would you ever become a dog lover, breeder, enthusiast, owner or advocate if you had never met one in person? How would you become emotionally vested in their welfare and well being without access to roley-poley puppys, play bowing youngsters, or ball chasing adults? How could you be driven to work with assistance dogs, if you'd never seen a guide dog, seizure alert dog, or Search and Rescue dog in action? How would you become interested in obedience or agility if you'd never experienced the thrill of partnership and cooperation with your best furry buddy after getting a qualifying score in competition...together? How would you ever know you wanted to become a breeder of pure bred dogs if you never experienced the joy and satisfaction of raising up a litter? It would be quite challenging to develop those things from afar, and impossible if you didn't know those animals or events existed.
If we don't have a vested emotional interest in Elephants, how could we ever be motivated to keep them protected as a species? If future generations don't see Elephants as majestic, thinking and intelligent creatures, then they as a species are doomed to go the way of the Dodo and the Thylocine. Lost forever. And forever is quite real. If the public doesn't see these animals in the Circus, in parades, or in Zoos, how do we have children to grow up into wildlife wardens, sanctuary owners, or advocates for RESPONSIBLE care of an animal that isn't even native to this continent, but is no less deserving of promotion and protection. How will anyone fall in love with Elephants if they only ever see them in books, on TV, or as the mascot of a College football team?
The domestication of Elephants is not a new idea. Elephants have been in the service of mankind since, conservatively, 2000 BC. They have served as Gods, mascots, loggers, companions and animals of war. They have lived with us, and along side us century after century. Domesticated elephants don't have to worry about poachers slaughtering them for their ivory, modern elephants don't have to worry about death from preventable disease or infection, not do they have to walk hundreds of miles to find water during a drought. While domestication may come with less than ideal treatment in many cases, life in the wild is no better. Circus elephants will never be eaten alive by a predator because it's to weak or ill to defend itself. A zoo elephant will never starve to death slowly over weeks after being trapped in the mire of a diminishing water hole. Most logging elephants will never have their faces cut off to remove their ivory. Life can be equally harsh on both sides of the fence. But humans need to be given the opportunity to get to know and take a stand for these animals, beautiful and intelligent as they are.
Every creature on this planet deserves management and protection, whether predator or prey, domestic or wild, fish or fowl. Each species and sub species has evolved to fill certain niches in the environment, and when we lose those species, something has to fill that void. Impacts of those voids are often devastating to an ecosystem, causeing upheaval that can last decades. And those impacts effect creatures from microscopic to monumental in the environment. Elephants deserve protection and humane treatment. Efforts to outline and enforce reasonable examples of mental and physical well being are the answer. Not excising them from our culture like a cancer. Not denying children the chance to know and admire such creatures and grow up to be advocates instead of abolitionists. Again, Animal Rights organizations take small baby steps to keep pushing the norms of animal husbandry and management, until at last there are nothing but wild animals anymore. Wild animals that we are mandated not to interfere with, not to rescue or rehabilitate, nor structure breeding programs around to bolster their numbers in this world.
The problem that I have with that is this: Human beings still occupy this world. And as long as human beings populate this planet, in ever increasing numbers, we will continue to destroy habitats, pollute ecosystems, deforest vast acres, and encroach on wildlife. The sensible thing to do is to provide animals with protective laws, sanctuaries, rehabilitation, protected environments and so on. But NOT to completely abolish domesticated animals. We are trapped on this planet (so far) with every other living thing on it. Living and working together with other species dates back 20,000 years or more. Domestication is part of our contract for living on this planet WITH the inhabitants that also live here, providing us both with a better quality of life for the most part.
When the Elephants are gone, the carriage horses retired, and the pure bred dogs banned, much of the joy and compassion we feel will be gone too. Because animals are the best parts of people. They are infinitely more easy to connect with, identify with, and relate to, than many people are because they are non discriminating, non judgmental, non sanctimonious, and more genuine. They will not lie to you or betray you, because they lack those concepts. I, personally, would rather live in a world where there is more of that, and less of it's opposite. We can live in respectful domestic partnerships with animals, we just need to take a stand and make it happen.
Thank you!
ReplyDeleteReasoned and thoughtful. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteThank you
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