We’re playing God now?
I was perusing through my feeds this morning and came across a rather disturbing article through BBC.
The headline read Protection for ‘weirdest’ species and went on to detail how a conservation effort is being made to save “Evolutionarily Distinct” animals from going extinct.
The plan, called EDGE (Evolutionarily Distinct Globally Endangered) hopes to somehow protect species of animals they deem unique from the possibility of extinction. Take for instance the bumblebee bat (Craseonycteris thonglongyai) which some believe to be the worlds smallest mammal. Scientists believe that it is the sole member of the Craseonycterudae family of bats, and is thought to have last shared a common ancestor with another species about 43 million years ago. Under the EDGE program it would be classified as endangered and killing it would become illegal.
Now this is where such a thing really bothers me. As I understand it, the basic theory of evolution is “survival of the fittest”… you become week, and you die off, leaving the ones with the stronger traits behind to breed.
Protecting an “Evolutionarily Distinct” animal just doesn’t seem natural to me. Animals have been going extinct for eons, and somehow man is suddenly supposed to step in and save the animals from evolution itself. Seems mighty BIG of us if you ask me.
Man has this bad habit of thinking we can control or manage everything around us when really, letting nature take its course would really be the best option while doing our best to stay out of the way.
We can work to lessen our impact on such forces by cutting down on how much we pollute our environment etc. but trying to micromanage evolution by safeguarding a species that is evolutionarily dying out just seems downright wrong to me.
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Comments
I think I’m pretty weird. Will I go on a list?
Joking aside, I agree with you completely. Isn’t it rather ironic how the biggest supporters of evolutionary theory are typically also the ones who can’t stand the thought of evolution taking place? They want everyone to be on some level ground; bell curves are a nightmare. They want no species to be extinct, though obviously that naturally occurs sometimes (or do we think dinosaurs are still roaming the earth?).
And Travis, I understand what you’re saying, but sometimes taking lives in the animal kingdom is what saves it, too. (Not saying this in regard to endangered species; don’t misunderstand.) Look at deer. In where I used to live in Tennessee, even with hunters, deer were becoming malnourished because they had overpopulated. Thank goodness for this evil, dirty, terrible species known as Human, specifically hunter. 
Also, quit the doomsday approach. If you think things are that terrible, quit driving to work or running your air conditioner in the summer, your heater in the winter. Take three minute, lukewarm showers.
Honestly, the world ain’t that bad–hasn’t really changed all that much–but the media sure will tell you a different story.
The world has changed quite a bit when it is wrong to save lives and right to take them.
However, I do agree on “but sometimes taking lives in the animal kingdom is what saves it, too.” When it is determined that the positives outweigh the negatives, that is the way to go. However, such decisions should not be taken lightly and should be accurate.
There is nothing new about this. Groups and organizations have been out there for a long time to protect endangered species. As far as if it is right or wrong, who can say? Doesn’t it equally effect nature in saving a life and in taking one. We take animals lives all the time, for survival, for food. Does it really hurt so much, to save? There is a whole lot of killing in the world, and not much saving. In this respect, I can’t complain about the act of saving a creature, a life. I do agree on “mans” ego though and trying to control everything, this “God” complex. We are too big for our britches. With power comes responsibility, and the modem man has not been as responsible as we should. In the end, we will have destroyed ourselves due to a lack of responsibility of our power. I think saving some lives, some species, on the way will not effect nature as much as we already are through our pollution and destruction.