Don't play with it

I finally got around to doing environmental themes as intended since I started learning about wildlife and its conservation issues. It's what I completed my degree in (specialization under biology) and something that I found to be very relevant. There are many realities we're faced with on a daily basis. However, to me, the starkest is the lack of regard to the fragile ecosystems that surround us and ignorance of the repercussions for humans should it crumble. Earth will survive, we won't. Of course there are lots of cognizant folks out there like me, raising awareness and doing their part to leave the world better than they found it... but there's so much more work to be done. 

This was made increasingly evident after reading all those comments under news articles about the murder of Cecil, the lion. I saw an article about how lions kill people and essentially, the lion deserved to be killed. That is the usual mentality folks have towards top predators. You know what kills humans the most out of all different specials on Earth? Other humans. Here's the real situation, animals don't have boundary lines and fences the way humans do. Yes, they have territories but how the animal kingdom works, without human interference, everything balances itself. They claimed those lands before us. They aren't encroaching on our space, we encroached on theirs. They don't always catch up to speed to acknowledge this and be aware like "Oops... the savannah is now a city." 

Also, since we humans are committed to expansion with little thought towards practical coexistence, the animals can't survive and exist as before; they end up getting lazy and linger around human settlements to get easy food like domestic livestock and such. Hell, even cute monkeys are commonly considered pests too. Locally, there are hunters for monkeys. More so today as after Hurricane Ivan there is little to no food in the forest. Thus, the monkeys have relocated to live along or close to agricultural farm belts and raid the farms. Is this the animal's fault? They too have that instinctual need to do what's necessary to survive.

With all this in mind, aside from all the other things annoying me in the world today like the resurface of open dislike of brown people in America... I've decided to explore these issues through art. Here's my first one, "Sad bear and friend." It's of two plush toys sitting in a deforested area holding a sign. Plush toys aren't alive, even though we saw Ted come to life recently... But there are real animals facing this real issue of no longer having a home due to deforestation. This reality extends beyond the bears and the birds to cures undiscovered in plants, insects and other bugs that keep the soil fertile, other mammals, etc. At this rate, we should probably go take pictures of everything for generations to come because who knows what will still exist?