On a remote, subtropical island in the South Chine Sea there exists a species of wildcat that has been in existence there for 200,000 years, but whose continued well-being is now threatened by the tourists who come to see it.
This wildcat was only discovered in 1967. Many of the experts have never seen a living one. With an average of three per year ending up as roadkill and close to half a million tourists descending annually on an island with one paved road, the future well-being of the cat depends upon some kind of balance being struck.
It is no wonder that tensions have grown between the older islanders, (some of whom deny the very existence of a cat for whom under the roadway crossings have been devised), and the scientists who regard the long survival of the cat as nothing short of miraculous.
It seems to me that we are here faced with an increasing world problem. Remote areas and their flora and fauna are now fair game for the curious of our human species. Money is rarely an object. There are few places so remote that some method of transportation cannot bring the tourists there. And...?
Is it human nature to want to see everything for ourselves? Are some of us doubting Thomases in the 21st century still holding to the adage that seeing is believing? Is it our need to be able to say that we have gone where few others have?
It is more than time to reflect on human curiosity and its consequences. It is one of our most needed human qualities. Because we ask the questions, the answers are so often found. To want to know is the beginning of knowledge. But somewhere along the line we must accept our place in that chain of knowing. Otheres have seen, have reported, have done the experiments. I do not have to repeat all of them.
The ecologically fragile world we wish to invade says: o old on. Believe I am here, but don't come to see. Let me be." It might be time to put up a NO VISITORS sign on our endangered spots. |