A last thread before the wife and I hit the road for a long weekend:
An astonishing 125,000 Western lowland gorillas have been discovered living in a swamp in the Congo. See here and here. This more than doubles the known number of this endangered species.
And here I present the world’s smallest snake: the Leptotyphlops carlae, just discovered on Barbados. Average length of 4 inches and as thin as a spaghetti noodle.
Alas! Still no word on Bigfoot. (Unless he’s hiding among the Western lowland gorillas, the sneaky bastard.)
I just read the gorilla story, and am almost of mixed feelings. While it is astonishing and wonderful news that there is such a large population of gorillas, I’m almost sorry that they’ve been discovered, since I lack confidence in humans protecting them and that their discovery isn’t going to endanger them.
At the same time the story had one sentence that made me go :dubious::“News of the discovery of the Western lowland gorillas in northern Congo comes the same week as a report that almost 50 percent of the world’s primates are in danger of extinction.” Have humans been kicked out of the primate clan while I wasn’t looking? 'Cause with the billions of us, I don’t get the math.
They probably mean 50% of extant species of primates, of which Homo sapiens is only one.
I agree with the first half of your post. They were better off without us bumblers around. Call me cynical, but I don’t hold much hope for the great apes of the world.
Damn it, I wish human beings would share the planet more nicely. If we keep on extinguishing other species, we’re going to look around one day, and it will just us, dandelions, cockroaches and pigeons.
I agree–and additionally I worry that people will be more likely to harm them/fail to protect them because since there are more of them, it’s “not as big a deal” anymore.
(Unless he’s hiding among the Western lowland gorillas, the sneaky bastard.)