March 28, 2024

The debate of humanity versus wildlife has been going on for years. People are up in arms about animals infiltrating residential areas. But, it is us invading their homes.

Humanity and nature have coexisted since the Stone Age. But often not harmoniously. Way back then, wildlife ruled the globe. People lived in caves and leaving them was a huge risk. Today, we’ve reached a point where we’re the ones forcing the animals into solitude.

The population continues to grow to the point where people are even complaining about people. There’s too many of us now. The United Nations estimates there are now more than seven billion people on Earth. In 1900, there were only 1.6 billion. Forests and jungles have been destroyed, rivers and lakes polluted, and food sources ravaged, leaving animals with little choice but to seek new land.

How would you feel if you were backed into a corner by some foreign race that you can’t even understand? All animals know how to do is survive and we’re giving them less and less ways to do that. It’s gotten to the point where some of them are even forced out of their own territory into ours, which is terrifying to them. Imagine how many deer have seen family members get hit by cars.

They stick to their own territory for a reason and they’re absolutely horrified going through ours. Just the other day a deer was seen breaking through a window at a Victoria Street Tim Hortons in Kitchener. Speaking of which, we have to remember that this is a risk to us too.

People must stop encroaching on nature. If we must build, it should be up, not out.

Helmut Gabbar, a Kitchener resident, raised concerns about coyotes in his backyard the other day. They hadn’t made it into the fenced-in area yet, but his property backs onto a forest. He saw two coyotes eyeing his dogs through the fence. But Gabbar also raised a good point. While I’m still talking about all this wildlife vs. humanity stuff, he said he knows that we’re getting too close to what little territory the animals have left in our city and he expects it to get worse. This is something we all need to realize. Not to be afraid of wildlife, but so we can prepare ourselves for what’s to come.

BY: RILEY LINSEMAN

 

Leave a Reply