Elephant Genocide

[jordan179]

Today, I discovered the depressing information that in 1990 there were 10 million elephants in the world; today there are around 0.5 million

Comments

[expanding_x_man]

Yes, the more I learn about elephants the more I love them. This is truly depressing and sad news.

There must be a way to turn it back! Or at least, stem it... I hope so...

[chocolate_frapp]

I agree completely. Elephants happen to be one of my favorite animals.

[kharmii]

Watched something about ptsd in elephants once (which explains some of the violence). It is a terrible thing we've done.

[inverarity]

One of my favorite SF series is David Brin's "Uplift" trilogies, in which when Earth makes contact with advanced alien civilizations, one of the first things humans have to do is cover up their history of exterminating other species, since the galactics regard all species as potential future sapient clients.

We are indeed guilty of species genocide, and I wonder if we wouldn't deserve being judged accordingly by an advanced alien civilization.

[ford_prefect42]

I suspect that any other sapient species we may run across will probably have had to navigate the same evolutionary gauntlet we did, and will therefore have the same history that we do.

I don't view the things done in the past as "mistakes" per se, but instead as things done that turned out regrettably given later information.

[prester_scott]

Playing devil's advocate

[kharmii]

I don't know...maybe collective guilt would be useful to point out who is killing the elephants.

I -and mine- aren't killing all the elephants in the world. I -and mine- aren't trafficking in legal slavery of human beings or committing widespread atrocities against women, jews, Christians, etc. etc..

[prester_scott]

Only if there is a particular religious or cultural belief system that is motivating the slaughter, such as, if there's some tribal witchcraft tradition that says elephant tusk is an aphrodisiac or cures AIDS or something. Then I guess you could call it collective guilt.

In that case, you might be able to solve the problem by curb-stomping those believers. That would not be politically feasible to the PC West, though.

[ford_prefect42]

That is a point. If we're going to prevent the killing of elephants in the wild, we're pretty much going to have to do so by being prepared to kill the humans that are doing it.

And we're not even prepared to kill the humans that are trying to kill *us*. So, how's that going to work?