Wildlife vs. Human Life

I have a subscription to the Smithsonian magazine. I feel compelled to support an institution committed to preserving so many facets of history. Last August Mark and I had the chance to visit a handful of their museums in Washington D.C. I could spend a month there and not see everything of interest to me. I'm not always interested in all of the articles in an issue, but there is usually something that sparks my curiosity. Occassionally there's even something that angers me. A few months ago there was an article about antelopes in Wyoming. The approach that the author chose to take was to attack oil drillers for interfering with the natural habitat of the wildlife there. The antelopes' migratory path had been narrowed by the presence of the rigs, and they liked to stay close to the warm drilling sites. Now, I'm all for conserving nature and keeping Yellowstone as natural as possible so people can appreciate it for generations to come. I'm also in favor of preserving the jobs and livelihood of the people who need to support their families and who in some small way are preventing our total reliance on other nations for our energy needs. That being said, I'm sure there is a lot more to the story that I'm not aware of. Despite my initial frustration with the article's slant, I soon forgot about it.

A few days ago I was flipping through my most recent issue of the Smithsonian. I'd just finished a couple of fascinating articles about Egyptian temple excavations and Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise. I turned the page to find a really cool picture of a jaguar and an article entitled, "On the Prowl". Looked interesting, until I read the subtitle. "Long absent from the United States, a few jaguars now roam the wilds along the border with Mexico. How will the crackdown on illegal immigrants affect the big cats?" Okay, so maybe the author is just interested in discussing the cause and effect relationship between the cats and the (future?) wall, but I'm ticked off once again. Maybe I'm a terrible person for thinking that a wild animal pales in importance to the security of our nation. Maybe it doesn't matter what I think since we obviously won't be building that wall anytime in the next four years. It's my opinion that if there is anything we should be conserving for the benefit of our future posterity, it's a free, independent nation that gives them the opportunity to succeed and support a family. And if that nation has a few wild jaguars on the prowl? Well that's just an added perk. I do, after all, like cats. :)