Mammals of the World Face Crisis

The results are in. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) recently published findings that one out of every four mammals is in danger of going extinct. While not all of the mammals are, say, critically endangered, being anywhere on the Red List is not a good thing for any species. Be they threatened, endangered, conservation-dependant, or vulnerable, the fact remains that 1,141 of the 5,487 mammalian species alive on the planet today are facing dire straits.

Earth’s mammals are in crisis, a situation that has largely been brought about by human activity. Since 1950, three subspecies of tiger, the Balinese, the Javan, and the Caspian, have been hunted to extinction. And now, with only 5 subspecies and less than 3,000 tigers left in the wild, we are forced to reflect upon the cowardly, selfish, and hateful acts that have brought one of the most celebrated animals in the world to the brink of extinction, carried out by the very hands of the species that reveres it.


The Balinese tiger


The Javan tiger


The Caspian tiger

This is just one story of many. The charismatic megafauna that captures most of the media’s attention is not the only type of animal suffering the effects of our irrationality and our history of wanton disregard for the planet’s ecosystems. From the Tasmanian devil to the fossa, from the smallest mammal in the world, the bumblebee bat, to the largest, the blue whale, mammals are facing serious challenges due to the Big Five: Habitat destruction, invasive species, pollution, overpopulation, and the overconsumption of our natural resources.


Pangolin

We need to act now. It is a choice you must make within your heart—when you become a witness of injustice, do you stand by and watch, doing nothing? When you know someone or something is in pain, do you do nothing to try to alleviate it? When you see a fellow human harming a living creature, does the vision meet your gaze with an apathetic stare?

I believe that all humans are born good, that all humans are born with the intrinsic desire to do good things, to care for others, and to be cared about. But I believe that the expert mastery of society’s influence can direct us instead, with a bombardment of images, advertisements, and propaganda, to steer our attention and desires towards a sugar-coated happiness rooted in the loose soil of materialism. But is it really easier to not care than to care? Is it easier to face your emotions or turn your back on them?

I believe that the right thing to do is often the hardest, and the situation at hand calls for everyone to turn to face the mountain that as humans we must climb towards fixing the problematic ways in which we coexist with animals. Be it through choosing locally produced, organic food, avoiding purchasing items in heavy packaging, purchasing a hybrid car, selling the car and riding a bike, recycling everything from paper to iPods, choosing to major in conservation ecology or environmental management, insulating your home with blue jeans, powering your appliances with solar technology, teaching the younger ones you may know about animals and plants, donating to conservation groups, writing letters to your government to call for responsible energy alternatives, the extra effort is little to ask for helping a quarter of all mammals to recover and get the chance at survival that it deserves.

In your hearts, I believe you all know what to do. Search within and find the strength to become a defender of wildlife and make the changes necessary to help protect the precious life that remains on this incredible planet. Despite what your abilities may be, there’s always something that you can do!