Man, I think we tend to see stuff like this and oversimplify it as “hUmAn BaD” without actually engaging with what’s going on. I think focusing on farmer’s interactions with the lions running into their property is much more apt than the writer realizes. While it’s true the lack of legislation, poor land management, and predator stigma are all big issues in why lions are getting killed so much in Estosha, but I think the core issue we should grapple with is our general view of living space with other animals.
In our back yard, we’re trying to do our best to cultivate a space that not only benefits us, but also the local wildlife. That means no mowing, no chasing off rabits or squirrels, planting natives, chop/drop invasives(or burning the ones that make it to seed), FUCKING LEAVE THE LEAVES, composting, etc. The attitude my spouse and I are trying to cultivate is to co-exist with the local wildlife, because it’s their home, too. I’m thinking much less about how to protect my property from them and more about considering all my neighbors. The city says it wants us to do a manicured grass lawn like everyone else “for the health and well-being of our citizens”, because the legislation was drafted with the premise of wildlife being a threat vector of disease and property damage. While we’re groaning away about the destruction of the habitats of wildlife due macroeconomic factors, we fail to see it’s manifestation in our literal backyard. Yeah, lions are being killed by humans because the lions directly threaten the farmers’ livelihood by hunting/killing their livestock, but maybe the solution isn’t merely legislation to reduce human and lion interactions with fence and shelter requirements, more zoning laws, and tracking lion movement. Maybe we can find a solution that benefits the lions since, ya know, it’s their home, too.
What if we started bringing into consideration the rights of local wildlife before drafting legislation? Where I would much rather consider the moral obligation exclusively and primarily, I should also bring up that we not only can and should have a mutually beneficial relationship with local wildlife, but we do, indeed, ultimately need them. In my backyard alone, bunnies keep eating up a bunch of invasive plants and their poop is fantastic natural fertilizer, dragonflies/damselflies keep the mosquito population in check, birds help spread seeds and keep grub worm/spider populations in check, coyotes and snakes keep the rodent and bunny population in check, isopods help break down all the poop to keep the nutrient cycle going, bacteria in the soil provide nutrients directly to the plants growing in the yard, ground-cover plants shield the soil bacteria from solar radiation that would otherwise kill them, the shrubs around or house grow deep roots to keep the soil in place around our foundation, the trees provide shade to keep ground temperatures steady and shelter for them critters, etc. The benefits from wildlife aren’t limited to distant functions like the food we eat, the materials they provide, or helping keep neature neat, you can see them right out your window-- even in the big city!
On top of that, we do have an obligation to protect local wildlife from climate change caused by the worst of our species AND we also need their help to combat climate change. While I would prefer our moral compass would be sufficient to support the argument to manage our collective approach to wildlife interactions, I cannot ignore the fact that the practical application is also an act of self-preservation for us all.
TL;DR: While local farmers protecting their livestock from lions is becoming a primary threat to lions’ existence, I think the core issue is bigger than just extinction of certain species, but the problem of framing it as “humans vs other animals” when Earth is their hometown, too.
Even shorter TL;DR: The real problem is fucking NIMBYs.
Man, one thing that kills me is democrats perpetually eating up the rabid opposition to populism. Like, I get it, obviously establishment democrats are gonna push back since it directly affects their status, but it’s like democrats have been falling into this stupid politics as a team sport bullshit real hard in recent years, and you see it with the blanket demonization of something like populism of all things. “Like, akshuallee, the elites are good bro”. They don’t think for themselves anymore.