Animals are going extinct all over the world. A small number of humans have,
in one small part of the planet, used the governmental system to create a
process (The endangered species act) to keep some selected animals from
extinction. In a couple of cases this process has been successful and led to
the reestablishment of healthy populations. In most other cases, the
process has simply slowed down the decline. There will come a point where
the number of species needing protection exceeds the financial capacity to
do so. And remember this law is not in effect in China, Russia, Africa and
many other countries who have lost many species to extinction. Also
remember that this act is a political one, and all it takes is a change in a
few votes, and people with different priorities will dismember the
endangered species act. If you get personally attached to a particular
species that is declining, you should steel yourself to possibility loose
that animal. The convergence of habitat loss, climate change and human
population growth and selfish behavior are very likely to remodel the world
such that native animals have no place outside zoo enclosures. This is well
under way and unless there is some kind of major reduction in humans the
outcome looks very dim for wildlife of all kinds planet wide.



Killing an abundant owl to support a declining one might look very foolish
40 years from now.



Rob Sandelin

Naturalist, Writer, Teacher