VN May 2017

From the Editor I Van die Redakteur

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?

Paul van Dam

T hat we are heading 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 there without any such natural disaster is a scary thought. In this issue, you will read about the

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

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,

4 Mei/May 2017