About Our Great Animals

"Lots of people talk to animals.... Not very many listen, though.... That's the problem."~Benjamin Hoff, The Tao of Pooh

Every few weeks a story will come across the wire which commemorates some sort of milestone or event involving some of the majestic animals that we share this planet with. Occasionally, the news will have to do with the passing of an animal that was part of a large awakening in the social consciousness of this man-wild relationship, whether the euthanizing of beluga whales in captivity or the passing of celebrity primates...

While my the factual background of these animals deaths, and the circumstances surrounding it, I always feel a sense of loss at the passing of great animals. It somehow creates a void when something so beautiful and primal is suddenly gone... of course, daily unreported (or unannounced) animals are slaughtered all around the world... but like the passing of an important historical figure, like the late President Ford, is not anymore or less important than the loss of "everyday people" everyday, it does punctuate the change in our national consciousness, when we can reflect on the larger more public loss, as an avenue for the consideration of the more common.

Fortunately, the sun always rises, and, if you watch carefully, there will be good news which heralds the birth of new animals... and the return of such things to the nation's common memory through the news or television. So, just as this past Thursday, the Atlanta Zoo experienced the passing of a 222 lb. whale shark named Ralph, it experienced a reintroduction of another animal to its public family...

Watching the CBS Early Show this Saturday morning, my wife and I had the opportunity to view the video footage from Friday's "big reveal" at the Atlanta Zoo of the nation's newest panda cub — Mei Lan, pronounced "may-lan." (MSNBC.com offered quite a bit of information to this very nascent fan of pandas.)

While Mei Lan did not personally appear, the fact that she has come out of seclusion, where she has been since being born September 6, 2006, is an indication that her official debut may only be a few weeks(?) away. Until May Lan's coming out, panda fans have been keeping up with the cub and her mother, Lun Lun, on the zoo's online panda cam.

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