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Mei/May 2017
From the Editor
I Van die Redakteur
Paul van Dam
Reflections from a
Dam Wall
To me it is almost impossible to envisage a world without green zones,
without wildlife, with large areas of barren soil, stripped of everything
edible by man (either to feed himself or by mismanagement). No wildlife,
all harvested, either for survival (of man) or greed. Like some movies,
picturing a few survivors on earth after some sort of natural disaster that
only left a scorched earth in its wake. When will the sun set on our natural
environment for the last time? When will we wake up to … nothing?
T
hat we are heading
there without any such
natural disaster is a scary
thought. In this issue,
you will read about the
plight of the giraffe – an animal
that we still take for granted – with
numbers reduced by approximately
35% during the past two decades.
You will also read that, according
to WWF, we are on track to lose
two-thirds of all individual birds,
mammals, reptiles, amphibians
and fish by 2020 (this is based on
calculations that animal populations
plummeted by 58% between 1970
and 2012 – predicted to reach 67%
by 2020). The endangered African
penguin is under threat as a direct
result of overfishing. Elsewhere I
recently read that approximately
60% of the world’s megafauna are
classified as being threatened with
extinction (according to the Nature
Red List of threatened species).
Megafauna include mammalian
carnivores of 15kg or larger and
herbivores of 1000kg or larger.
Are we heading for a situation where
wildlife will only survive if protected
by well-trained, armed rangers
(“soldiers”), as is the case with the
mountain gorillas in Rwanda, Uganda
and DRC? When God created man,
He said, “Be fruitful and increase in
number; fill the earth and subdue
it. Rule over the fish in the sea and
the birds in the sky and over every
living creature that moves on the
ground” (Genesis 1:28). Some
seem to interpret the “rule over” as
“do with as you want, kill, destroy,
force into extinction”, and not as
“manage”. Even scarier is the fact
that some of our colleagues are
part of the problem… Some months
ago, I asked that we should all look
at our professionalism and ethics
– so, do you manage and control
your scheduled drugs according
to regulations? Or do you provide
farmers and lay people with some
stock, “just in case”?
VetNews is your magazine. We really
need your views, your opinions,
you input on the type of material
you would like read. Please do not
chuck the magazine in the dustbin,
unopened, if you battle to find much
of value – drop us an email with
suggested improvements! We also
need writings on your experiences,
your stories (many veterinarians tell
great stories – please write them too
and share them with all of us)!
Have a great month!
v
Regards