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CARE BEARS

I just watched a documentary on the History Channel on the rise in the number of bear attacks in the US. Apparently, the figures used to stand at 1-2 cases every ten (10) years, but now they’ve escalated to a ridiculous 1-2 cases every year! For some reason, the ‘cousins’ of the cuddly, fuzzy playthings many keep in their beds have lost all fear of humans (and it seems fondness) and are on some crazy mission to kill as many humans as they feel like.

A book I read when I was much younger talked about how bears and many other beasts of the wild are not as ‘wild’ as people make them out to be. Apparently there is (was?) more than a 70% chance that a bear will not attack you without some provocation i.e. unless you are stupid enough to go and steal a bear cub you’re quite safe from a bear/ elephant etc. attack. Well, NOT ANYMORE it seems!

It seems the all-consuming pride of humankind has brought our fast-approaching, utter damnation. The bears are chewing human beings, and they are chewing us fast and by LARGE numbers. The experts say the bears have lost their fear because they have gotten too comfortable with human presence, I say fairytale bull. I say we are getting what we deserve. You don’t pick up a rifle and kill things for SPORT and not expect some repercussions?! My faith tells me that we, as humans have dominion over earth and its inhabitants and have the right to slay for food. Not for sport. But regardless of your religion, there’s something fundamentally wrong with taking a (innocent) life and enjoying it. It’s just plain sick; science may tell you that an animal’s abilities on many levels are less acute than humans, but life is life, no matter whom/what it belongs to.

It’s this same disregard for life that translates into our indiscriminate tree-cutting, our incessant pumping of waste-gas into the atmosphere, our constant pollution of all kinds of water bodies and our creation of water bodies that refuse to move, and in turn breed disease and death for us. We are the source of our death, we are the source of our damnation, and until we realize this and make attempts to correct our ways and better our interaction with the rest of the universe we are inevitably bound to destroy ourselves.

The signs are clear: global warming, weird inconstant and unpredictable weather conditions, freak diseases we cannot cure, rampant unprovoked animal attacks….we’re on a shopping spree of extinction.

8 expressions:

The Author said...

On a shopping spree of extinction? Brilliant ending to a brilliant post (better to call it article.) I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Had good research and well-thought out writing written all over it!

Pen Powder said...

I couldnt have said it better myself. What is this thing called killing for sport? Let us kill what we eat, and eat what we kill, I think thats a very simple principle. Good work, exposing areas seldom blogged about. Thanks.

Nana said...

@ Nana Yaw, real honor, those words coming from you. I actually did quite a bit of editing =)

Nana said...

@ Pen Powder, 'Let us kill what we eat, and eat what we kill, I think that's a very simple principle', maybe we're not as smart as we think we are after all.... Thank you!

Kwegyirba said...

Antye504, well said. Beautiful piece there. We need to start thinking about these things.

Nana said...

Thank you Kwegyirba! True, we do; it surprises me how we generally take for granted the little things that have major effects on or lives.

gamelmag said...

Thanks for sounding this all-important clarion call.

Nana said...

You're most welcome Gameli! :)

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