Morphological Good Stuff

Ok, yes, it's kind of inarguable that humans have had a lot of negative impact on the natural environment and blah blah blah who cares... but I came across a conservation argument that didn't bore my pants off:

"(most) Animal activists know nothing about the conservation of animals, they are ignorant, living in the past and ill informed..."

Now for a few examples of non-traditional conservation strategies that are proven to work but you never seem to hear put forth by vocal animal activists...

1- Hunting is a GOOD THING

Did you know that Elephants are NOT an endangered or even a vulnerable species?
The fact is they are just a "flagship species" for many activists, they are a charismatic animal, easily recognisable; mention that they're endangered, they are being poached to extinction for their ivory, and, well, people care!

Now, keeping that fact in mind let's have a quick look at the world of government regulated safari hunting that is common in many parts of southern Africa.

Many governments in Africa have set a price on the cost of shooting an elephant in Africa, this price is $50,000.

You may think that is horrible, putting a price on the life of Elly the Elephant, but this is actually one of the best ways to ensure elephants don't become extinct in their natural environment.

90% of Elephants in Africa life outside of natural reserves, this means they wander in and out of communities, and if they are pests and unwanted they will be shot... but $50,000 is a lot of money for a small African community to pay for shooting the elephants crushing their houses and pestering their children.

So, welcome the PROFESSIONAL hunter. A hunter will come in, pay $10,000 to the community, $10,000 to animal conservation groups and $30,000 to local government to come in and shoot the elephant.

Now the community is rid of the "pest", they have $10,000 to repair the damage caused and elephant proof their community for the future, the conversationalists in the area have $10,000 to put into monitoring and protecting the elephants in the area, and the local government has $30,000 to keep the program running, protect elephants from illegal poachers, and go about their business. Oh, and the elephant has been killed in a regulated, sustainable and humane way.

Makes sense, right?

But for some reason a similar scheme for crocodiles in the Northern Territory of Australia was shot down, due to vocal backlash from animal activists who think it cruel to shoot a croc.

There are 75,000 crocodiles in the Northern Territory, so many that they are attacking each other over limited territory and dying of injury, or starving to death, and turning to livestock and even occasionally people to feed themselves as they are so populous there is not enough traditional food sources... it's a pretty shitty crowded and competitive existence for a NT croc.

25,000 crocodiles less would solve this problem for the crocodiles, for the locals, and also give local indigenous people in the area a chance to make a sustainable income from their land.

The fact is it is difficult for some species of animal and humans to co-exist, we are not going to start culling humans to ensure crocodile habits are not encroached on, so why not sensibly maintain numbers of crocodiles and use them, their meat and their skin to ensure the quality of life for wild crocodiles and the humans who live around them?


2- Animals are SAFER in captivity

Many "Urban Conversationalists" believe that the safest place for animals is out in the bush, far away from humans. We don't see them, we don't touch them, they are safe and everyone is happy.

Well... no.

There are many reasons that animals are not actually safe in their natural environments, one easy to grasp example is because of Cane Toads.

As cane toads sweep through Australia they are wiping out many carnivorous marsupials as they go. The Eastern Quoll for example no longer exists in it's natural habitat of eastern Ausralia. If it weren't for programs rearing quolls in captivity they would be completely extinct.

Would anyone care?

Well, a lot of people I'm sure have no idea what a quoll is, so here is a picture:

Cute right? They're also extremely intelligent, sociable animals that make clean and interesting pets.

Now I know I'd be rather concerned if I heard that all the cute awww fluffy baby kittens in the world were going to be extinct! I see them all the time, I interact with them, I understand the (social) value of them.

So why not allow people to keep native animals such as quolls as pets? You could learn about them, appreciate them, have fun with them, and if your quoll runs away, oh well, at least it wont go feral and kill other native... quolls... And in the end if all quolls become extinct in the wild then maybe quoll pet breeders, who are now wealthy generous people, being paid $1000 per pet quoll, could release some of their captive quolls into conservation and integration programs, I mean they wouldn't want their super cute livelihood to go extinct.


3- You should be allowed to CATCH and USE animals

In South Africa crocodile breeders were allowed to capture and breed ENDANGERED wild crocodiles for their own gain, so long as they agreed to release 2% of all crocodiles they bred back into the wild.

Crocodiles in South Africa are now abundant, in regulated numbers, and safe from extinction and there is a booming and sustainable crocodile meat, pet and skin industry as a result.

The crocodiles are not pests, like in Australia, or endangered like they were, they are useful, and are preserved by the people who have placed a value on them.


Also the world of "Morphing" snakes is actually highly beneficial for preserving endangered snake species.

Morphing is when snake breeders cross species of snake to create interesting and beautifully patterned quirky cross-breeds. They then sell these amazingly beautiful and weird snakes to "Morph Collectors" for ridiculously high sums of money.

This sounds sick, except many breeders of Morphs have a genuine interest in snakes, and interest in preserving the integrity of the pure breds. They also breed many rare snakes that are nearing extinction in the wild by using the funds they make from selling their morphs.

The Morph collectors are happy and snakes that are becoming extinct in the wild have "insurance collections" in captivity. The snakes are now useful, commercially valuable, and worth protecting. What's wrong with that?


So?

Well, here's a random chain of thought:

Humans limited to urban environment are not running through the wild hunting their food as intended, so to ensure all humans don't become pent up aggressive balls of lard we have created sports.

In our urban centers we have sporting precincts, where you can go watch sport, buy sporting goods, socialise and train in team sports, support your team etc... It's taken care of a very animal need in a fun, convenient and commercial way.

There are sporting precincts, business hubs, entertainment quarters, shopping centers, university communities....

So why not have Animal Precincts? Urbanimal Precincts even.

People are animals, we like animals, we use animals so why not create a place where you can do what's natural in an urban, comfortable, convenient and useful way.

You can go and watch animals for amusement, purchase animals as pets, purchase animal goods (meat, fleece), undergo training for sustainable hunting licenses, learn about growing your own pet food, visit the vet, visit owner and pet social clubs, etc etc etc....
All approached with such quirky, scientifically and commercially viable conservation methods similar to the examples mentioned above.
Why leave animals out in the ever degrading wild to die alone? They are fun, as humans we do have a very real use for many of them, they are have social and economic value, we are animals too, why not integrate them into our cities in ways that benefit us as well as increasing the welfare of the animals we live with?

I think it makes total sense.