We are killing them

The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) today released a list of Asian species that are at a conservation crossroads calling for governments to take immediate action with The Three Rs Approach: Recognition, Responsibility, Recovery.

The list includes: the tiger, orangutans, Mekong giant catfish, Asian rhinos, Asian giant river turtles, and Asian vultures. The announcement was made at the IUCNs World Conservation Congress convening in Jeju, South Korea through Sept. 13.

WCS says that each species can follow the path of the passenger pigeon, which went extinct in the early 20th century, or the bison, which was saved using the three Rs approach. In the case of the bison, which was decimated by over-hunting, its plight was recognized, responsibility was taken, and recovery resulted with more than 30,000 wild individuals in existence today.

Asian species will not be saved. They will go extinct. We poison them. We kill them. We are very good at killing. Hundreds of joyous people brutally killed a Royal Bengal Tiger in Bangladesh. I am ashamed of being born in a land of nasty, brutal people.


  1. StevoR says


    Don’t feel too ashamed although I think I know what you’re meaning.

    No one has control over where and into what circumstances they are born of course. People are born into various cultures and groups and nations.

    Horrible people are everywhere in every nation, sad to say.

    Some people born into a brutal nasty culture revel in that nastiness and brutality and relish it and adopt it as their own.
    Those are the ones that have most to be ashamed about yet paradoxically seem the least vulnerable to shame.

    Others also born into brutality and nastiness see that for what it is and reject it. They are those with least if anything at all to be ashamed about – yet those most likely to feel the shame of their countryfolk’s behaviours, practices and ideas.

    You, Taslima, I think are very much in that second group and you are fighting to change things for the better.

    Looking at the state of this planet – the recent record low sea ice in the Arctic due to HIRGO (Human Induced Rapid Global Overheating) as I prefer to call it*, the crushing losses of biodiversity that we aren’t even, most of us aware of, the seas choked with plastic and waters and air everywhere with toxins; I think Humanity as a whole has done much that is shameful.


    * Because “anthropogenic” sounds too technical and not plain enough, the rate of climate change is a huge break from the normal natural change and because “warming” is far too mild and pleasant a word for what is happening.

  2. roger ivanhart says

    There is no alternative. We must learn to share the planet with other species. Our own survival depends on it. It may seem sometimes in our cities isolated from rest of the world that we can get by without plants or other animals, bar those that serve as our food. Nothing could be further from the truth.

    Without predators, herbivores would breed unchecked and threaten our arable crops; we need predators to reduce numbers and ensure animals that do survive remain best suited to their environments. Without herbivores, plants would grow unchecked – and mostly those plants we think of as weeds. Few people seem to realise that we must continually reinvigorate the seed from which our plants grow; compared to weeds they are incredibly weak and quickly become all but useless for our needs. We may think of insects as annoyances but they are essential for pollinating plants. Many birds are essential for dispersing seeds, raptors essential for keeping birds that would threaten our crops in check and reducing populations of rodents that would otherwise overrun our farms, destroying our food and spreading disease. These are, of course, very limited examples.

    Those countries where important environments are being destroyed by humans are most in danger of losing the animals they most rely on, even if their populations do not realise it now. They must be educated so that they can protect, not destroy, their fauna and flora. For some it is already too late.

  3. girishurwar says

    Hello Taslima,

    I remember this video, I had used this in an article of mine on Sunderbans. The original is from Al Jazeerah. Yeah, I know this is very brutal. But you can’t solely blame the humans for this. You need to understand the Sunderbans as an ecosystem. It really is difficult to survive there. This is a social issue of a food-chain level and humans are not on top here. So, whenever they have a chance, they do rejoice, because if is not often you can bring down a Royal Bengal Tiger.

    Girish Urwar

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