Lincoln Park Zoo objects to chimp ads. There is apparently one slated for the Super Bowl.
This is excellent evidence that the environment is a luxury good. That noting endangered species is a mark of insane wealth in the west. I think chimps are entertaining. But if they ceased to exist, what would be the loss, exactly? Would wine no longer gladden the heart? Young people no longer fall in love? Restaurants have only one, soviet item on the menu? What?
Chimp ads crack me up. I'd be pretty upset if I thought the chimps were mistreated in the making, but I have no patience for people who want to outlaw them outright.
ReplyDeleteI was reading an article a few weeks ago about possibly bringing back species that have disappeared, using DNA and a compatible surrogate mother. I couldn't help wondering what the point was to resurrecting the dodo or the sabre-toothed tiger.
ReplyDeleteChimps have a role in the ecosystem in parts of Africa.
ReplyDeleteBut ecosystems have survived the disappearance of individual members. The system itself changes, but it is not destroyed.
It is one of the oddities of modern environmentalists that they wish to keep the current state of many ecosystems permanent.
While it is laudable to reduce the impact of humans on nature, humans will always have some impact on the animals and plants that we live near.
Dan Didio (a cartoonist): "You cannot add a chimp to anything and not make it better."
ReplyDeletekarrde - and no environment is ever stable anyway.
ReplyDeleteIn Oregon, cutting old-growth forests became anathema in the name of the spotted owl. Now the spotted owl is being pushed aside and interbred with by the barred owl.
ReplyDelete"Nature, red in tooth and claw..."