Thoughts on the Loss of 4 Congo Gorillas

Cornelius: [reading from the sacred scrolls of the apes] Beware the beast man, for he is the Devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed. Yea, he will murder his brother to possess his brother's land. Let him not breed in great numbers, for he will make a desert of his home and yours. Shun him; drive him back into his jungle lair, for he is the harbinger of death.

Reknowned paleontologist-conservationist Richard Leakey was recently interveiwed for Newsweek in an article available on MSNBC.com. I was saddened to see that the impetus for the article was the recent discovery of four slaughtered endangered mountain gorillas, which resulted in two infants being left orphaned.

Between running, gardening, playing and working, I have often found myself drawn to news stories which chronicle what I have come to think of as the ongoing loss of our great animals. I previously posted about just a few examples here, here and here; situations during which animals which often only inhabit the recesses of our imagination have sprung forth to life, only to meet an end which occasionally is not natural.

To me, occasions like these great Congo gorillas being savagely hunted down, are the saddest and most unnecessary reasons for this loss of an important part of our larger animal community. For a visual guide to this senseless waste of life, check out these shockingly terrible pictures which accompanied the Leakey article.

Breathe in, breathe out... YOU AND I ARE ALIVE!