Dear Parrots magazine,
Extinction
An article written by the Editor, John Catchpole, in Issue 156 (Are we heading for oblivion?) prompted me to write this letter.
We are going to have to change our attitude to our planet and to the way we live on it. Our planet is a living, breathing entity, it has to be loved and cared for. We have raped and plundered our planet and the onslaught continues, and it has to stop. Everything on our planet is intrinsically linked. You cannot separate any one species from the whole and say it does not matter when such a species becomes extinct. Every species is a link in the whole eco system of life, and each time we loose a link, we begin to break down the whole.
I wrote an article some time ago for Parrots magazine, “Extinction is for Ever.” On a daily basis we have species that become extinct, thousands of species, animal, bird, vegetable and mineral etc, are threatened. We (humans) are the most destructive creatures, we are responsible for the plight of our planet, all that have lived and do live on it. We are the ones that have brought species to extinction and the future lies in our hands.
Sorry if this offends anyone, but we have too many people living on our planet. As populations increase, so our natural world disappears to make way for human habitation. If this continues, what will we be left with? How will we feed such a massive population? We are already seeing food shortages in some countries, which, in my opinion, will increase. We here in England could, in the future, experience such shortages.
What does the future hold for the parrots of our world? If we want to help secure their future, then please, stop hand-rearing, hand-rear only to save a life. And please stop hybridising. Neither is good practice for conservation and preservation of parrots. Give support to those who strive to protect the habitat and parrots in the wild. This is where parrots and parrotlike are meant to be. Bird song/calls are the music of the earth and what would our world be like without those sounds?
Our attitudes and consciousness have got to change, and unless they do, we face a very bleak future, as does everything that lives on our planet. We will not win, as our planet will, and it is already kicking back. If this all sounds a bit far fetched and philosophical, then perhaps you need to find a quiet space, look around you, look what is happening across our planet and ask yourself, can we continue to live with the attitudes we have? Can we continue with the level of greed and power that exists? We can change and the future can be bright, but we have to make it happen.
Pam Fryer - by email