I would say we are in agreement on a number of issues here. The lion would not take in to consideration the long term. Neither does it seem humans do, though we have the ability. I am not squeamish about the idea that we are consumers of resources. Humans are part of the landscape and need to live too.
My concern is that people no longer understand their connection to nature at the gut level. And I am not refering to enviromentalism here. Many environmentalist don't appear to be connected either. Many resource decision makers (and the general population)seem unconnected to the natural world at this core genetic level. I believe it is a factor that needs to be part of the decision making process, along with science and the rest of the stuff we use to decide such things.
Domesticated animals are the odd example. They don't seem to need to develop behavior past being adolescent. I would like to define adolescent as the stage of growth where the organism is self-absorbed. It is unaware of what is going on in it's environment. (Your cat not being able to discriminate threatening behavior on the part of a sleeping dog. A big waste of resources if you are living in the balance energy wise.) In nature it appears that adolescent behavior is a major liability. In fact, the young that get eaten are often ones who don't grow up fast enough to avoid getting eaten.
Actually, this seems to apply to many modern humans as well.
Sorry for the ramble:-)
In the short term lions would not go on a killing spree and wipe out every antelope. Other animals take only as much as they need (though some use storing food as a strategy) or kill to provide for immediate self-defense. Long term, food supplies usually balance out populations, though not always, thus, how some species become extinct. Humans are the only ones who won't stop killing until every last individual of a species is gone.
You can prove or disprove this by sitting outside (quietly) and watching. Prey only gets nervous around predators that are in hunting mode. Predators are not always in hunting mode and prey know this so are not always nervous in the presence of a predator.
There are some real interesting opportunities at home that can have big impacts world wide. If your into wildlife and helping kids Cyber Tracker World is gearing up for some interesting work.
http://www.CyberTrackerWorld.org
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I would say we are in agreement on a number of issues here. The lion would not take in to consideration the long term. Neither does it seem humans do, though we have the ability. I am not squeamish about the idea that we are consumers of resources. Humans are part of the landscape and need to live too. My concern is that people no longer understand their connection to nature at the gut level. And I am not refering to enviromentalism here. Many environmentalist don't appear to be connected either. Many resource decision makers (and the general population)seem unconnected to the natural world at this core genetic level. I believe it is a factor that needs to be part of the decision making process, along with science and the rest of the stuff we use to decide such things. Domesticated animals are the odd example. They don't seem to need to develop behavior past being adolescent. I would like to define adolescent as the stage of growth where the organism is self-absorbed. It is unaware of what is going on in it's environment. (Your cat not being able to discriminate threatening behavior on the part of a sleeping dog. A big waste of resources if you are living in the balance energy wise.) In nature it appears that adolescent behavior is a major liability. In fact, the young that get eaten are often ones who don't grow up fast enough to avoid getting eaten. Actually, this seems to apply to many modern humans as well. Sorry for the ramble :-)
In the short term lions would not go on a killing spree and wipe out every antelope. Other animals take only as much as they need (though some use storing food as a strategy) or kill to provide for immediate self-defense. Long term, food supplies usually balance out populations, though not always, thus, how some species become extinct. Humans are the only ones who won't stop killing until every last individual of a species is gone. You can prove or disprove this by sitting outside (quietly) and watching. Prey only gets nervous around predators that are in hunting mode. Predators are not always in hunting mode and prey know this so are not always nervous in the presence of a predator.
There are some real interesting opportunities at home that can have big impacts world wide. If your into wildlife and helping kids Cyber Tracker World is gearing up for some interesting work. http://www.CyberTrackerWorld.org