Websailor's Wacky Wildlife World
Created | Updated Sep 24, 2008
A quirky look at wildlife. To be taken with a pinch of
salt, but with more than a grain of truth!
War and Peace
It might seem a strange title for a wildlife column, but as I write it is nearing International Peace Day on Sunday the 21st September, and I have been thinking of the effects of war on our precious wildlife.
We hear almost daily of the loss of human life in one war or another around the globe, but very little is said about the loss of wildlife. Animals, birds, reptiles, invertebrates have no say, and I wonder often why humans seem bent on destroying all the things on which our very lives depend. Animals disperse seeds, as do birds; bees and other insects pollinate our fruit, vegetables and flowers, and all species fertilise the land. Trees and plants give us precious oxygen, soak up surplus rainfall, and store carbon safely. So why in heaven's name do we set out to destroy it all?
Not only are animals killed in the process of war, but as a means of gaining the money to promote and continue war. For example, in Africa, elephants are killed for their ivory tusks, the money from which is used to buy arms, ammunition, mines etc. Rhinos too are killed for their horns: the horns pound for pound in weight have a greater monetary value than gold, and the spoils are used again for buying military hardware etc.
Mountain gorillas suffered in Rwanda, the Congo and surrounding areas as people headed for the forests for firewood and food, the Karisoke Research Centre having been plundered several times. Fighting has been going on for over a year in the Congo too.
Reports this very month show that mountain gorillas have been shot, and ten were killed last year. The demand for bushmeat is leading to the Virunga National Park being plundered, and the population of hippos at Lake Edward has almost been wiped out. 10% of the park's elephants have been killed since last year, for bushmeat and ivory. Those people actively trying to protect wildlife have been brutally slaughtered, some 120 guides and trackers having been killed.
A war torn country for centuries, in 1962 during the Vietnam War, it suffered destruction of habitat on a monumental scale with Agent Orange, both white and blue, deliberately being used to destroy forest cover, crops and wildlife. It took years to recover. Cambodia is desperately trying to save the remaining few dozen freshwater dolphins in the Mekong River, the population devastated after 1962 by the Sino-Indian war, pollution and over-fishing.
The Falklands war in 1982 caused huge disturbance to wild open spaces on which birds were dependent for food and nesting, and the usual debris of war remained long afterwards, not to mention the pollution of air and water.
Oil discovered on the Arabian peninsula seemed a blessing at the time, but has wiped out the natural product that until that point had largely sustained the population: Pearls. Oil and modern life, fuelled by great wealth, polluted a previously pristine area, provoked wars and destroyed wildlife including the pearl colonies in the seabed. The 1980-1988 Iran-Iraq war produced the world's largest oil slick when more than eight million barrels of oil blackened the waters of the Gulf.
The 1991 Gulf War caused huge destruction of habitat, massive pollution of air, sand, sea and fresh water, with hundreds of oil wells burnt, and millions of barrels of crude oil dumped in the sea. The possible use of chemical weapons and germ warfare further added to the destruction. Thousands of birds were destroyed by oil, and burning leaking oil fouled sand, water and air. Marine life was destroyed or affected for years to come.
The Bosnian conflict in 1992-1995, hit hard a country blessed with a wonderful array of wildlife, including brown bears, deer, mountain goats, hares, lynxes, capercaillies and eagles to name but a few. Something like a third of the animals had disappeared during the war, many victims of landmines, and subsequently used for much needed food. Birds died of stress or loss of tree cover. Animals and birds that did survive had fled to surrounding countries, some never to return. Those that did were plagued by territory peppered with landmines, enduring loss of limbs and paws.
Snakes do not immediately spring to mind, but they are good indicators of poor soil quality, and the contamination of soil by landmines meant most did not survive. The creatures who do best from war torn lands are the scavengers - such as wolves and foxes, for obvious reasons.
Fires and oil leaks defiled the beautiful 'blue' Danube River, bombs landing in national parks destroyed tree cover, the habitat for Golden eagles and Griffon vultures. A lake, an important wetland nesting site for endangered Dalmation pelicans was also ruined.
The current conflicts which commenced in Afghanistan (2001) and Iraq (2003) are causing much the same problems, but one area where wild animals suffered cruelly, was not in the wild but in captivity. Baghdad Zoo, the largest in the Middle East, suffered badly with animals starved and neglected. Hundreds of unprotected animals disappeared and out of 650 animals in that zoo, only 35 survived, thanks to the efforts of conservationists. The zoo is now being renovated to the highest standards, but I have reservations about such things in such a volatile area.
Some good news - A project of the Earth Organisation is a draft resolution submitted to the UN, proposing that all wildlife conservancy areas, marine parks and research facilities be declared illegitimate targets of war. A worthy cause, but in the 'fog of war' what difference will it make, I wonder.
Rwanda and Burundi have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, for mutual protection of two major national parks. Part of this will see better control of poaching (which has seen the extinction of elephant and buffalo), bamboo cutting, charcoal burning, cattle movement, fires etc. much of it as a result of raging wars and the resultant poverty. Tourism is to be encouraged as an alternative source of income, and as a reason for protecting the wildlife. We can only hope that this works.
This is only a very small sample of the effects of War on wildlife, and yet another reason that we should take the International Day of Peace seriously. It was instigated in September 2001 when the member states of the United Nations unanimously adopted the annual day of global ceasefire and non-violence - 21 September
It is reminiscent of the cessation of hostilities for Christmas 1914 which gave hope, and has never been forgotten. Surely human beings will one day wake up to the appalling damage they are doing on a daily basis.
Peace One Day - activities on that one day are already achieving results, but it is easy for cynics to rubbish the whole idea. Yet 'mighty oaks from little acorns grow' and maybe the seeds of hope, the idea of one man, may one day germinate. Let's hope so, for the sake of wildlife, and ultimately for the sake of humankind.
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