Why do Conservation?

     During my undergraduate at the University of Connecticut, I was involved in research on snakes and lizards in a lab doing “experimental physiology”.  Basically we were trying to figure out what animals can do and why they do it.  In our case we were looking at the tongues of snakes and lizards, how they used them to smell and why so.  It was pretty interesting and exciting stuff, handling snakes, playing with lasers, and using high-speed cameras.  All those interesting facts about animals such as how great a dog’s sense of smell is compared to humans are because of research like this.  It has been through the studying of the world around us that we are able to advance and improve our own. Studying birds’ wings gave us flight; bats gave us sonar, and the list goes on from curing disease to advancing our technology.

     As much as I enjoyed playing in the lab with the high-speed camera (capturing things breaking in rat traps, popping water balloons…. everything is cooler in slow motion!) something never seemed right to me.  Here we were trying to see what animals could do, but at the same time there were animals going extinct each year.  Insects, fish, and mammals no one has ever even seen, let alone spent years researching their tongues, gone into the abyss of what we don’t know.

     Who as a kid did not at some point want to be an explorer of some sort, an astronaut, a mountain climber, a private investigator, or the like?  It’s in our nature to explore and learn and to want to learn more.  It’s why we send rockets to far off galaxies and submarines to the unreachable depths of the ocean; to learn.  Yet each year between 1,000 and 10,000 species go extinct, mostly without man’s awareness (luckily on their behalf perhaps).

     Few people on this planet ever get the chance to leave where they were born and learn the amazing vastness and diversity of life that exists on it.  Even those privileged few of us who have the financial means to visit far off countries will only scratch the surface of the amazing living mural we live on.  Even over the course of many lifetimes you could never envision the number of insects, fungi, and bacteria that live hidden in foreign jungles, below the arctic ice, and even within our own bodies. Because of that none of us can ever truly grasp how lucky we are to be surrounded by such beauty.

     When I am doing my research in the field with the rangers, I often realize that their view of the world is likely very different from my own. Here are men who have mostly all grown up just a mile or two from the park, likely had little to no schooling, most speak little other than their native Zulu.  Yet here they are risking their lives to protect endangered animals.  When I ask them why, most answer because they love the wilderness, the animals, and the peace that they find there.  They often ask me if in the U.S. if we have elephants and lions, seems silly to us, but these men will likely live and die not far from where they were born.

     On occasion I tell them about what I have seen in the world.  Most of them do not understand why rich people from far and wide come to the run-down areas that they live in. I tell them how lucky they are to have such amazing animals in their country and that in Europe and North America most of the animals have disappeared because of people.  They immediately feel a great sense of pride and are eager to learn of our mistakes.

 

This men live a solitary life on the reserve and most will work the majority of their lives protecting wildlife making about $400 (USD) per month. They have nothing, but my respect

     There is still so much to learn and explore in this world.  As one scientist put it, it is as if we are in a cave that is pitch black and all we are holding is a candle.  Many people would think that where the light of the candle ends is as far as we can see and know, but beyond the faint light of the candle the size of the cave and what inhabit it are unknown to us.  It can be scary to learn more, to venture deeper into the unknown.  However, if we are brave enough we will likely find out more about ourselves as well as the cave.

     I believe in conservation because I believe in the power of knowledge.  I think that each organism on this earth has a value that goes beyond a dollar sign or even a possible medical treatment.  I find value in knowing that the amazing beauty of this earth will continue and not be destroyed.  What we all need to decide as a society is what value we have for life besides our own.  Do we truly think it is important that rhinos and elephant exist or does it mean more? Will this decision not just affect the existence of other creatures, but also perhaps be our time to shine as a species, to say this is who we are as moral beings?