The Wild Kingdom​—Is It Vanishing?

THE chilling presence of evil quickens the human pulse as the unmistakable sound of automatic weapons blasts the silence and echoes and reechoes in the distance. It is too far to hear the victims stumbling and falling to the ground and to see them writhe in their death throes in the dust. Walk over and count the dead. There are hundreds, possibly 300, here.

The executioners have gone away. They had no intention of burying the dead. The innocent victims, stripped of their material wealth, are left where they fell to rot in the sun or to be eaten by scavengers. One look at the carnage is a graphic reminder of the perils and the increasing wanton slaughter that faces victims carrying articles of great worth but with inadequate means of protection and virtually no place to hide.

Multiply this scene by thousands. Count the total dead by tens of thousands. And only then can you begin to get a true picture of the ruthless slaughter by which the once great elephant herds of Africa are being decimated. Today, they are being killed faster than they can reproduce, and there are strong fears that soon they will go the way of the buffalo that once roamed the American plains in vast numbers, only to be massacred by man almost to extinction.

The great elephants have given their lives for humans who have an eye for the exotic. Expensive ivory carvings that range from several feet high to the size of a thimble are in popular demand by those who can afford them. Twenty years ago the price of ivory was about three dollars a pound. Today it commands a huge $40 price tag. It has been estimated that 2,300 elephants lost their lives to supply the 8.3 million dollars’ worth of ivory imported into the United States in 1980 alone.

An elephant poacher with the slightest knowledge of mathematics knows that his prey, bearing, say, two 100-pound (45-kg) tusks, could bring him at least $8,000 on the ivory market. In Tanzania police confiscated a cache of tusks valued at $360,000, the result of poachers at work. The crackdown by game wardens and rangers in some African countries has resulted in a number of deaths of both poachers and rangers. “It’s like a war,” said one warden. But with the inflated prices paid for ivory tusks, the poachers are willing to take the chance. Even some game rangers have turned rebel to the cause and joined the poachers. The kill of just one large tusk-bearing elephant could equal more than a year’s salary for a ranger.

Those with an eye for the exotic do not necessarily stop with the ivory carvings. They may be willing to pay $400 for a briefcase made of elephant hide or to buy a wastebasket or an umbrella stand made from its feet and legs. A pencil holder made from the feet of a mere baby elephant may strike their fancy. A man may like the idea of having a wallet made of elephant hide, and a woman may like to show off her elephant-hide purse or belt. But have they considered that an elephant gave its life so that they could have something unusual?

So insensible have the poachers become to the wanton slaughter of these animals that in some countries water holes, used not only by the elephants but by other animals as well, are being poisoned. By poison spears, by poison fruit, by darts, pitfalls and fire, and by automatic weapons, the defenseless elephant falls easy prey to those who have but one intent: kill! And kill they do, in East Africa up to 70,000 elephants a year.

Not long ago the country of Uganda boasted 49,000 elephants. Soldiers in the army of the then president, Idi Amin, turned part-time poachers and systematically gunned the elephants down by the thousands, hacking out their tusks and leaving them to rot where they fell. Park rangers once counted 900 carcasses in just one area.

Amin’s government was overthrown in 1979, but, unfortunately, the elephants of Uganda were not to breathe a sigh of relief. Today, the weapons from Amin’s army​—either abandoned by fleeing soldiers or confiscated—​are prized possessions in the hands of poachers. With them the poachers can methodically kill anything that moves and offers a cash return. Today, the head count of elephants left in Uganda stands at about 1,500.

When will the slaughter end? As long as there is a demand from couldn’t-care-less consumers it is hard to see how the extinction of the wild elephant in Africa can be avoided.

Unfortunately, the elephant is not the only endangered species that grows those coveted tusks of white gold. Africa’s black rhinoceros, sprouting horns from one to two feet (30 to 60 cm) in length, have been hunted so wantonly that the estimated population of 100,000 ten years ago has been reduced to between 10,000 and 20,000 today. Like the elephant the rhino is being destroyed faster than it can reproduce. Experts speak bitterly of the prospect of the extinction of all Africa’s wild rhinos. “Prospects for their survival in the wild are shrouded in pessimism,” they say.

The affluent may not think twice about paying $40 a pound (454 gm) for carved elephant tusks, but they may wince in disbelief at the prices commanded by rhino horns​—in many cases a shocking $14,000 a pound. Why so high? It is a traditional belief in some lands that powdered rhino horn has magical and curative qualities, and it is highly prized as an aphrodisiac for those with waning sexual powers. Thus the wealthy pay high sums for it.

Medical experts find no evidence that powdered rhino horn is an aphrodisiac. The sexually impotent might as well save their money and eat their own finger nails or hair trimmings, since rhino horns and human nails contain the same substance, called keratin. Yet many are convinced that there is a difference, and they are willing to pay over $600 an ounce (28 gm) on the retail market for powdered rhino horn, to the delight of the poachers. One game warden commented, “There would be no rhinos here within three weeks” were it not for the patrols. Since many Asians still believe that the rhino horn has magical powers, the Asian species has been hunted nearly to extinction.

In North Yemen the rhino horn is highly prized for making handles for daggers that are traditionally worn strapped to the waist of males from 12 years old and up. The daggers are decorated with silver and gold, and the North Yemenites will pay enormous sums, from $6,000 to $13,000, for them. In less than a decade, according to published reports, North Yemen imported nearly 50,000 pounds (22,680 kg) of rhino horns, representing about 8,000 rhino lives. What a price to pay for tradition!

Far removed from the elephant and rhino ranges of Africa, the 12-foot-long, 3,000-pound (1,360 kg) walrus rests on his ice floe in the Arctic. Those large, downward-pointing teeth that give him his formidable appearance are made of ivory​—all three feet of them (nearly one meter). Once he was hunted almost exclusively by the Eskimo, who used him for food and hand carved his tusks to sell for income. Now he has moved into the big time as a source of ivory, and an estimated 5,000 are killed annually. If the kill increases, someone will have to tell the walrus to have his offspring more quickly, or else he will join the ranks of those who have vanished from the wild kingdom.

And there is more, much more. The fastest known animal, the cheetah, has been clocked as running at 70 miles (113 km) per hour. Yet even he cannot run fast enough to escape his most savage predator, man. That beautiful, sleek animal, yellowish in color with black spots all over his body, was once the pride of India and plentiful on the plains of Africa and Asia. Since the turn of the century, however, he has been so inexorably hunted that he has totally disappeared in India and is nearly extinct in the rest of Asia. In Africa his numbers are pitifully few and being halved every decade.

Why such slaughter of the cheetah? Because milady wishes for a new coat, and one made from the pelts of the beautiful, disappearing cheetah tribe will please her very well. The poachers find her desires most rewarding. A recent confiscated shipment of 319 pelts, all the illegal harvest of poachers, was reported to represent “a 5 to 10 percent reduction in the total number of wild cheetahs.” Fashion and vanity push this beautiful creature toward extinction.

Again, the beautiful markings of the majestic leopard make its fur extremely valuable for coats. How valuable? About $10,000 on the poacher’s market. It is obvious that only the wealthy can afford such luxury. However, the number of those who can afford it is increasing, and so is the demand for leopard skins, while they can still be found. In some countries laws forbid the import of leopard skins for coats, but for the tens of thousands of leopards that gave their lives for the sake of fashion this is too little too late.

The same can be said of the tiger, the largest member of the cat family. Once the king of the wild kingdom in Asia, living in abundance throughout most of the southern half of the continent, he reigned supreme until the 1800’s. Yet he lacked one absolute necessity for survival​—the ability to use guns with which to repel his worst enemy, man. He could not shoot back. Can you imagine how many brave human hunters would have gone after the tiger if he could have shot back? As it is, men relentlessly killed the tigers off and destroyed their natural habitat, and today only a few remain. The tiger is another endangered species.

Of what possible value could a gorilla be to man, apart from food for the rare few? Seldom does one hear of a gorilla coat, and gorilla teeth do not give ivory. But man still kills gorillas for trophies. He even cuts off their hands to make ashtrays of them. Because of poaching and the destruction of their natural habitats, the gorilla population of Africa is declining rapidly. Scientists fear that its survival is in jeopardy.

Once, the wild kingdom was thought of as a bottomless pit. Yet can even such an apparently limitless source give up, for example, 10,000 zebras in five years to make drums and rugs for tourists and not start to run dry? Nevertheless, the slaughter goes on, and the wild kingdom seems to be hastening to oblivion.

The grievous thing is that the demise has largely come about not to feed stomachs but to feed vanity. People do not need leopard or cheetah coats. We can do without elephant briefcases or purses. Who needs an unusual pair of shoes so much that a rare monitor lizard or a crocodile should die to provide it? When you think about buying a carving made of ivory, would your conscience flinch at the thought of an elephant writhing in the dust and having his tusk cut out while he is still alive, just to satisfy your whim? Remember, as long as there is a demand for these exotic items, animals will die and species will become extinct.

Despite the fact that many countries have enacted good laws to try to stem the disappearance of species from the wild kingdom, sadly, much damage has been done. A hope exists, however, that in the years to come there will still be animals on earth for man to enjoy. In a prophecy reflecting future conditions under God’s Kingdom, the Bible says: “Wolves and sheep will live together in peace, and leopards will lie down with young goats. Calves and lion cubs will feed together, and little children will take care of them. Cows and bears will eat together, and their calves and cubs will lie down in peace. Lions will eat straw as cattle do.”​—Isaiah 11:6, 7, Today’s English Version.

But woe to those who heap contempt on God’s earth by recklessly destroying his wild kingdom! Surely, He will “bring to ruin those ruining the earth.” He has promised that.​—Revelation 11:18.

[Blurb on page 5]

The once great elephant herds of Africa are being killed faster than they can reproduce

[Blurb on page 8]

Fashion consciousness and vanity on the part of humans are pushing the beautiful cheetah toward extinction

[Picture on page 5]

The walrus is an important source of ivory. About 5,000 are killed each year

[Pictures on page 6]

Enthusiastic hunting and a diminishing habitat have put the tiger on the endangered species list, while the rhino has been hunted almost to extinction so that its horn can be used for dagger handles or aphrodisiacs

The Hunter’s Role in the Wild Kingdom

IMAGINE the scene. The skies are rapidly darkening, although it is only a few hours after dawn. As you keep looking, darkness gradually blankets the whole area from horizon to horizon, yet there is not a cloud in the sky. There is an ominous, deafening sound like thunder, and you cover your ears. The earth beneath your feet resonates with the roar. What violent tempest has nature unleashed? You need not be afraid. It is only birds.

No, you never saw such a magnificent display of birds. Neither did anyone alive today. But in 1813 the famed American naturalist and artist John Audubon described a spectacular display just like this. He saw the beautiful passenger pigeons passing by in such large numbers that they darkened the sun for three days!

It makes the imagination reel just to think of a flock of birds as huge as that. Yet at one time such flocks existed. A few years before Audubon’s sighting, a large flock was seen in Kentucky, U.S.A., that was believed to have in it more than 2,230,000,000 passenger pigeons. Experts believe that there were 6 billion of these birds in the United States even as late as 1885.

Surely, an inexhaustible supply, you may think. The passenger pigeon would never be in danger of extinction. But no​—man the hunter accomplished the seemingly impossible. By killing on an average more than 566,000 of these beautiful birds every day of the week for over 29 years, he did it. On September 1, 1914, the very last passenger pigeon on the face of the earth, named Martha, died in an Ohio, U.S.A., zoo.

Thus, the passenger pigeon was lost to the world. Because of what one source terms “the hunters’ greed and waste,” a species that seemed completely unendangered was hunted to extinction. Does man have the right to value so lightly the lives of his fellow creatures and destroy whole species, one after the other? Moreover, why should such destroyers have the right to deny future generations the pleasure of observing the wild kingdom?

Man’s Accountability

The Creator of this earth’s teeming life forms does not view their destruction lightly. Jesus once said: “Do not two sparrows sell for a coin of small value? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground without your Father’s knowledge”; “not one of them goes forgotten before God.” (Matthew 10:29; Luke 12:6) Surely, God’s eyes have not been closed to the destruction of 6 billion passenger pigeons.

Not all have agreed with the indiscriminate killing of wildlife. In a letter written to the president of the United States in 1855, an Indian chief of the Duwamish tribe, in the state of Washington, voiced his concern about the wanton slaughter of animals: “The white man must treat the beasts of this land as his brother. I am a savage and I do not understand the other way. I have seen a thousand rotting buffaloes on the prairies left by the white man who shot them from a passing train. . . . What is man without the beasts? If all the beasts were gone, men would die from great loneliness of spirit, for whatever happens to the beast also happens to man. . . . One thing we know which the white man will one day discover. Our God is the same God. . . . This earth is precious to him. And to harm the earth is to heap contempt on its creator.”

This Indian chief seems to have instinctively grasped something that the Bible tells us: man has been entrusted by God with stewardship over the animals. The first book of the Bible tells us of this mandate to man: “I am putting you in charge of the fish, the birds, and all the wild animals.” (Genesis 1:28, Today’s English Version) Man’s wanton, almost frivolous destruction of the wild kingdom is a gross abuse of that trust.

The Nimrod Syndrome

Does the fact that man has stewardship over the animals mean that he is forbidden to kill them at all? No. Remember, God himself prepared clothing from animal skins for the first human pair and accepted the sacrifice of a lamb from their son Abel. And after the Flood of Noah’s day he gave Noah and his descendants permission to eat the flesh of animals for food.​—Genesis 3:21; 4:4, 5; 9:3.

However, in giving these concessions Jehovah God did not imply that animal life should be viewed lightly. To highlight the sacredness of the life of those animals that would be killed for food, God commanded that man should not eat the blood of an animal along with its flesh. The blood symbolized the animal’s life, and that belonged to God. (Genesis 9:4, 5) At no time did God give man authority to kill animals for the sheer joy of killing. Where, then, did man learn to do this?

Shortly after the Flood, a notorious man of those days, Nimrod, began to distinguish himself as an outdoor sportsman. He became “a mighty hunter in opposition to Jehovah.” (Genesis 10:8, 9) He evidently violated the God-entrusted stewardship over the animals by wantonly killing them. Others followed his lead, and soon the sport caught on in a big way. Hunting became the sport of kings.

Archaeologists have unearthed much evidence that the kings of the ancient world delighted in the hunt and boasted of their prowess. Even the Egyptian boy-king Tutankhamen fell victim to what could be called the Nimrod syndrome. Hunting scenes painted on the walls of his tomb and carvings on wooden chests pictured him standing in his chariot, riding at full speed, with bow and arrow in hand, bowstring tightly drawn and arrow ready to be released, while wild animals fled before him.

In more recent times wealthy Europeans hunted animals for sport in their own land, or traveled to India or Africa in search of more exciting game. Many decorated their homes with stuffed heads of the beautiful animals whose lives they had extinguished for sport. In the New World whole herds of buffalo were slaughtered and left rotting where they fell. And hunters came to prize moose heads, deer heads and other symbols of their hunting skills.

Man the Preserver

In order to protect some of the threatened animals from the hunter, governments set up hunting restrictions outlawing the killing of these animals. In the United States, for example, a herd of 3,000 Rocky Mountain mule deer in Arizona was protected. The result? With thousands of its natural predators being trapped, shot or poisoned by government hunters, the mule deer increased its population within 10 years to about 40,000 animals.

A happy result? In a way, yes. But, alas, the deer began to die en masse. What was wrong? Their habitat became overpopulated. Dead deer were found with stomachs full of pine needles, certainly not on the menu of deer unless they are on the verge of starvation. The check and balance of wildlife had been overlooked. With their natural predators destroyed, their population unchecked, they ate every vestige of food available. It was only when hunters were allowed to enter their area and harvest some of the surplus that the deer population was brought back into proportion with what their habitat could support.

Wildlife experts have learned their lesson well. From past experience they know that in order to protect the herds from starvation and disease, a harvest of surplus animals is necessary. Thus, in the United States restricted seasons are opened when licensed hunters can kill a certain number of the surplus animals each year. In other countries this is done by government game wardens and rangers.

In this way stronger herds are maintained and allowed to grow. In 1895, for example, there were only about 350,000 white-tailed deer south of Canada in continental North America. Today, there are approximately 12 million of them. In 1925 an estimated 13,000 to 26,000 pronghorn antelope survived in the United States, mostly in just two western states. Today there are at least 500,000 in all the western states. There are today about a million elk in 16 states, whereas in 1907 there were only 41,000 in one state. The official census of fur seals in the Pribilof Islands in 1911 was put at 215,900. Today, the herd is maintained at about 1.5 million. Without proper harvesting, all these now unendangered herds would be in serious trouble.

The “Disney Syndrome”

There is, however, an antihunting sentiment growing in urban United States, Canada and other countries, which wildlife management fears will be counterproductive. Some of the forces are highly organized with offices in England, the Netherlands, France, New Zealand and Australia, as well as in the United States and Canada.

Why is hunting coming under attack? “Very simply,” answered the editor of Montana Outdoors magazine, “many people today grow up without direct ties to the land and the wild creatures it sustains. Understandably, they derive most of their knowledge of wildlife from television and movies, which all too often present a distorted view of wildlife . . . and ignoring natural processes such as predation, disease and starvation.” One wildlife service director referred to this view as the “Disney syndrome.” “After watching Disney movies of animals and birds in the forest,” he said, “some people, particularly children, get the idea that animals can talk.” They think they are just like people.

Another spokesman maintained: “Youngsters simply aren’t getting the truth about wildlife. They know very little about game management or the success we’ve had with it in the last 50 years. It stands to reason that large numbers of children are turning against hunting. They think hunters are killing the few deer and other animals left in the country.”

Christians do not condemn those who kill animals for food. If, however, someone kills beyond the allotted number specified by the laws of their land, or if he kills for the thrill of it and uses the meat as an excuse, then it is to God that he is answerable. He is overstepping the stewardship that has been entrusted to mankind. And even though man is permitted to use animal skins for clothing, to hunt these creatures to extinction for unnecessary luxuries is an even worse abuse.

Many of the problems related to the wild kingdom are unsolvable in this system of things. As human populations grow, and wildlife is squeezed into smaller and smaller areas, the managing and preserving of that wildlife will become more and more difficult. And it is hard to see how governments with limited means will stop the poaching of disappearing species in this greedy, commercial system of things.

Just how many more species of animals God will allow to be destroyed before he calls a halt, we do not know. But sometime soon a halt will be called. God has promised that his Kingdom is soon to take over the day-to-day running of this earth, and at that time “they will not do any harm or cause any ruin in all my holy mountain; because the earth will certainly be filled with the knowledge of Jehovah as the waters are covering the very sea.”​—Isaiah 11:9.

At that time man will be trained to exercise his authority over the animals in a proper way. Meantime, Christians at least can show a proper respect for animals, being realistic but compassionate as they view their relationship with the wild kingdom.

“And for them I shall certainly conclude a covenant in that day in connection with the wild beast of the field and with the flying creature of the heavens and the creeping thing of the ground, . . . and I will make them lie down in security.”​—Hosea 2:18.

[Blurb on page 11]

At no time did God give man authority to kill animals for the sheer joy of killing

[Blurb on page 13]

“Youngsters simply aren’t getting the truth about wildlife”

[Picture on page 10]

The last passenger pigeon, named Martha, died in an Ohio zoo in 1914

[Pictures on page 12]

1. American elk, or wapiti

2. White-tailed deer

3. Pronghorn antelope

4. North Pacific fur seal

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