The Interdependence of Errors: man, animal and nature

A human being is a part of the whole called by us ‘Universe’, a part limited in time and space.  He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness.  This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and affection for a few persons nearest to us.  Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty– Albert Einstein

Bizarre as the above quote might sound as an opener for a piece on conservation, it holds true for the fact that no matter how much we preach, bait or coerce people to participate in conservation efforts, the success rate of such ‘imposed’ ideals would be low because it is naturally difficult for a human being to relate to an idea that originates outside his ingrained thought process.  The reason for calling the idea of conservation ‘imposed’ springs from the fact that man, by nature, is a game loving carnivore that is dependent on fuel.  Sometime during the process of civilisation, man the predator, discovered the convenience of storing food and the warmth and protection acquired from burning wood – anything sermonizing against these need-fulfilling ideas was perceived as an attack on his survival; the story of civilisation that followed is, as they say, history.

The Origin of Species–survival of the fittest: a highly debated theory which does not have any alternative – yet.  Whereas Charles Darwin explained the process of natural selection and categorically stated that only the fittest survive, he also noted the fact that many species have survived the tests of nature through teamwork and dependence on each other within their specific community and also outside of their immediate relations.  How else did our predecessor apes survive their more powerful fanged predators, if not for living in troops? Man’s dependence on trees for shade, protection and oxygen is also a clear example of interdependence across species. Perhaps Darwin did not place enough emphasis on this character of harmonious living by species both within and outside of their own kind and sadly, ‘survival of the fittest’ has become a slogan for competition, business and war, and the possession of fossil resources seems to be the only way to gain supremacy.

Let us, for a moment, accept that selection and elimination alone ensures the survival of species and gloat in the fact that we humans have emerged on top of the food chain due to our strength of intellect and then let us look at the history of the evolution of species.  Most survival battles in the animal world are fought inter-species (except for one-off territorial clashes); pre-historic humans followed the same thumb rules but today, the bitterest human wars are being fought within our kind. It will be interesting to see where evolution will lead us and our animal peers in the future, if (and most probably) this war continues.

Postscript: although there is no clear evidence on the cause of the death of the dinosaurs, the fact that even the fittest have no control over rudimentary planetary or cosmic factors like earthquakes, volcanoes, meteors etc. deserves a mention in this commentary.

Conflict between man and animal: doesn’t this term immediately touch a negative chord in the reader’s mind?  Instead of measures to minimalise conflict, it is high time to find positive ways to improve man–animal relations, while stressing on the interdependence between man and nature as a whole.  The growing human population and its tendency of over consumption has increased the need to grow more food, but it should not be forgotten that agriculture was the first blow that man landed on nature’s jaw – way before industrialisation – and it is man’s responsibility to compensate for this by creating new forests for the animal world.  Electric fences are not the answer, they emit vibes of conflict and this is the interdependence of errors; only corridors and fresh swathes of land, albeit at the cost of relocating human population can ‘rehabilitate’ animals.

Help yourself – the planet can take care of itself:  we humans possess a sun sized ego but thankfully our misconstrued ideas are often laid to rest in some stage of our civilization.  We once believed that the world was flat and that the Sun revolved around the Earth until someone revealed the truth to us.  But our ego never fails to thrill, for now we consider ourselves to be powerful enough to destroy our planet –we overlook the fact that Earth will live for as long as the Sun (or its gravitational powers) exists, or at least until it is smashed out of its orbit by some cosmic or internal explosion.  Our existence is just a miniscule phase in the history of the planet and no matter how much we siphon out fossil fuels or minerals, this planet is surely too resilient for us to make a permanent dent on it.  But yes, our ego may revel in the fact that a man whose average life span is only around 70 years has the capacity to make living conditions different for many future generations of his own kind.

The era we live in today has been designated as Anthropocene Defaunation by Professor Rodolfo Dirzo and his team of scientists from Stanford University (Science,25 July 2014, Vol. 345 no. 6195 pp. 401-406).  As per their analysis, “among terrestrial vertebrates, 322 species have become extinct since 1500, and populations of the remaining species show 25% average decline in abundance. Invertebrate patterns are equally dire: 67% of monitored populations show 45% mean abundance decline. Such animal declines will cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being”.  They argue that dwindling numbers of large animal species would mean an increase in the numbers of rodents which in turn will increase the numbers of disease carrying ectoparasites.  Experiments conducted in Kenya, where mega fauna such as zebras, giraffes and elephants were removed from isolated patches, have apparently demonstrated this phenomenon.  The loss of invertebrates, on the other hand, cause disturbances in pollination, nutrient cycling and decomposition of organic materials – whereas human population has doubled in the last 35 years, the number of invertebrate animals have decreased by 45 percent.

In the same issue of Science, Justin S. Brashares, et al, pointed out in Wildlife Decline and Social Conflict, that poaching is linked to human sustenance, terrorism and child labour.  Whereas the decline of fishes in West Africa gave birth to cheap child labour, competition on their waters and threats from international fishing fleets produced Somali piracy; the reader should observe the interdependence of living beings, regardless of their distance, when I point out that eventually such Somali pirates have been hostile towards Indian sailors.

The Stanford scientists further state that the 6^th great extinction has begun on earth and this time the target and cause are humans.  But, as we discussed already, the planet will continue to live and it is this resilience of our home that we humans can hope to utilise to our advantage. 

• Pripyat, the epicenter of the Chernobyl disaster, is turning green – it has trees, animals and birds including the endangered Eurasian Lynx; although they may not be totally radioactivity free, these animals are surviving and over the next few years, chances of radioactivity in the area diminishing to negligible proportions cannot be ignored,
• The now famous forest man of India, Jadav Payeng’s obsession with reforestation turned a dry sandbank into a reserve forest in India,
• Only seven numbers of black-footed ferrets survived a little more than ten years ago but now they are thriving – similar examples can be found for critically endangered animals ranging from condors to rhinos.

These examples prove that humans as a species have a good chance of surviving on this planet in the distant future, provided they use their intelligence to appreciate the interdependence of living beings.  To understand this, we need willpower within us and mindful education among children.  Petty politics in the name of human rights or vote bank appeasement should not be used to settle people on land meant for animals.  Conservationists need to move beyond superficial campaigns and agitations to save a few large animals and go all out in expanding animal habitats.  A roadmap for interdependent & harmonious existence may be difficult to formulate, but not unachievable – for this, vision and enforcement were required yesterday in governments.

Unless every child in the world develops love and compassion for life outside of the human orbit and realizes that one’s life is dependent upon the sparrow on the balcony and the tree on the lawn, the future health of the human race will remain questionable; education should teach a child that something as simple as overeating can not only make one sick, but could also deprive another child of a single morsel of food – greed and apathy will drive the planet’s resources to the brink.  Unless the world’s food stock is respected, one cannot blame a hungry child in West Africa for hunting down an endangered animal for food.

The earth is our only home. As far as current scientific knowledge is concerned, this may be the only planet that can support life. One of the most powerful visions I have experienced was the first photograph of the earth from outer space. The image of a blue planet floating in deep space, glowing like the full moon on a clear night, brought home powerfully to me the recognition that we are indeed all members of a single family sharing one little house. I was flooded with the feeling of how ridiculous are the various disagreements and squabbles within the human family. I saw how futile it is to cling so tenaciously to the differences that divide us. From this perspective one feels the fragility, the vulnerability of our planet and its limited occupation of a small orbit sandwiched between Venus and Mars in the vast infinity of space. If we do not look after this home, what else are we charged to do on this earth?–His Holiness the 14^thDalai Lama