Strange Days on Planet Earth

We are basically all one species relying upon one another, and the role each
plays, for survival. This is what is meant by the circle of life whereby
smaller organisms, plants, and animals depend upon other bigger animals for
their own survival. Humans are included in this equation too, but I think
sometimes people have a tendency to forget just how much we need plants and
animals around for our own health and survival.

There’s a delicate balance at play, and over time species begin to die out
once this balance is disturbed. The video evidenced this by the disappearance
of the wolves from Yellowstone and it’s effects. The wolf was once a top
predator of the elk, but once people pretty much drove the wolves into
extinction the elk began to over eat all the plants. This occurred because the
elk no longer had any predators and naturally over-populated and ate until the
landscape turned baron. In effect, the ecosystem was thrown off balance and
once the food sources were gone so too were the animals that once lived there.
What had been determined was that there’s a link between the absence of wolves
and the absence of trees. Once people got the idea to bring the wolves back
then the trees began to grow again.

Among other top predators are bears, tigers, whales, and groupers. In
particular, groupers are linked to the coral reefs and play an important role
in the ecosystem of corals. When their numbers decline it contributes to the
destruction of the reefs. When smaller fish rampantly deplete the coral, other
sea animals that depend upon the coral will no longer have a food supply.
Over-fishing by fishermen are mostly to blame, but they’re not entirely to
blame, because If people didn’t care to eat so many fish then there wouldn’t
be so many people fishing for them. Yet, in a world that’s driven by the
dollar, these things go unnoticed until people become aware and seek to make
laws aimed at protecting our animals. It should not take extinction or a
catastrophe to realize that changes should be made.

In closing, though we might not be able to live with predators, we certainly
won’t be able to live without them.