Maria Lisa Polegatto July 2024
As humans on this earth we are guardians, stewards, mothers and fathers, children, the future generations. We need to preserve and conserve species in order for the earth to thrive for as many years as it has already been and more. We need an earth to call home. One that is livable, sustainable, safe for habitat that provides wellbeing for all.
I woke up this morning dreaming about saving the owls that I read about this week that now face extinction through human hands - owl snipers! I see no sense in killing off species when we are already sending hundreds to extinction each year through destruction of habitat. I have found I use the word human when people do things that hurt my soul.
Today I stand with the owls, and not just the owls, but also the wild horses, bears and every other species we as humans have killed on this earth for no good reason. We need to STOP THE KILLING! There are alternatives to consider.
The bears were coming into towns to eat. Can you blame them? Humans have destroyed their habitat to take over the land for their own habitat. We don't live in peace with species, we humans take over. That is not the role of guardians. Why was there not an orchard built in the forest for the bears and other species to enjoy in peace? I am sure the bears don't want to interact with humans. They are simply hungry and built up enough courage and hunger to search for food to eat and feed their young.
The wild horses have roamed the plains for decades with many a war won on the backs of these hers and now that humans want to take over the horses domain, humans decide to kill off the horses or reduce the herd size which creates future genetic issues of diversity or break up the families they know and send them off in airplanes to be slaughtered in other countries. How do we know we are not being fed that same meat coming back into our country? Senseless acts of cruelty with no other reason but to destroy and dominate.
And now enter the plight of the owls. Yet another human plight to dominate. The barred owls are not destroying the spotted owls, humans are. Climate change is. Loss of habitat and food source is. With the barred owls taking over the territory of the spotted owls, can you think of no better way than to kill 100,000s of barred owls. I am appalled. Ask a group of children for ideas. They are the future humans of this earth and have a right to decide. Young but creative, innovative and sustainable minds. Why can the spotted owls, being outnumbered and endangered, not be moved to another location? The barred owls moved into their location and are surviving. The money being spent on ammunition alone could be used to rescue the spotted owls and relocate them.
Why can we not see we as humans are killing the earth? It is not the owls, bears and wild horses or other species except the human species. Removing species that are keeping the earth healthy with their free ecosystem transfer of nutrients is outstandingly reckless. The trampling in ecosystems creates new growth, the contributions freely made provides nutrients to the earth humans can not. Please do your research on the benefits of species before killing off species. Read Eat, Poop, Die by Joe Roman for starters - my favorite researcher. Read the section of my research project, Deep Dive Into The Ocean Ecosystem with the Giants, about the interconnectedness of species and organisms.
We need to focus on the bigger problems on earth - climate change, hurricanes wiping out ecosystems, homelessness, war to name but a few major issues we as humans have created. And while we are good at trying to fix things, species is not one of our strong points as past and existence evidence suggests.
But then again, in the long run, we humans will not have to worry about any issues as we are creating the extinction of ourselves by taking actions that create weather and species issues, war, and destruction. Let us instead focus on peace, interconnectedness, common ground, getting along, collaborating, floursing for the wellbeing of all, and being guardians of earth to protect, preserve and conserve.
Let us stand together with species we are a part of. We are nature, we are species, we are protectors. Let us repeat this to ourselves for the next thirty days and onward to create this though process as our common belief and habit to do good on the earth and to other species. We can do this!
Further Resources
Bears
Canmore paying residents to remove fruit trees to help reduce bear encounters
Romania to cull 500 bears to curb overpopulation after deadly attack
Owls
Wildlife officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls to save spotted owls
Wild Horses
BLM to remove ‘excess’ wild horses from Utah’s beloved Onaqui herd
Canmore paying residents to remove fruit trees to help reduce bear encounters
Romania to cull 500 bears to curb overpopulation after deadly attack
Owls
Wildlife officials plan to kill hundreds of thousands of barred owls to save spotted owls
Wild Horses
BLM to remove ‘excess’ wild horses from Utah’s beloved Onaqui herd
#humanity #anthropocene #earth #conservation #peace #species #guardian #owls #wildhorses #bears #book #author #soapbox #mission