The Tragic Story of the Tasmanian Tiger & Human's Poorly Timed Concern

​ca.news.yahoo.com/tasmanian-tiger-devotees-feed-australias-190005281.html

Australia has lost the most mammals to extinction of any other continent in the world. One of those species was the Tasmanian Tiger, officially extinct as of 1936, and a continued source of mystery,  sadness, and sometimes hope, for citizens of Australia. To this day, there are reports of Tasmanian tiger sightings, all of which are proving to be unfounded, but there is such a fixation on the Tasmanian tiger and its supposed existence. This begs the question however, why does it seem like we always care when it's far too late?

I do not own this photo. Phot taken from https://ca.news.yahoo.com/tasmanian-tiger-devotees-feed-australias-190005281.html

The Tasmanian Tiger was a tragic story, in that everyone cared when it was far too late. At one point, the Government put a bounty on them, rapidly escorting them to extinction. The continued hope that the Tasmanian Tiger is not extinct can be attributed to the mammal's important part of Australian heritage. It was one of a kind in that it was the only large, marsupial carnivore that lived to modern day. It's uniqueness and tragic, poisonous end are what continue to fuel sightings according to experts.
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​Wade Francis, who runs the Thylacine Open Debate and Discussion Facebook Page, says: “Too many people without a scientific approach are turning what was a real animal into a joke subject like Bigfoot.”

The Tasmanian Tiger is the perfect example of too little, too late. Our relationship with the other living beings who also inhabit our planet is so warped. We constantly take from the planet in our continued search for resources, destroying habitats and ecosystems along the way. We put hundreds of thousands of species at risk every day as we continue to grow, because with our growth comes the need for more land to inhabit, more land for animal agriculture, and more forest and land decimation in search of resources. Combine this with perils like poaching, wildlife trafficking, and legal hunting, and we're pretty much responsible for every peril that endangered animals currently face in the wild. 

On the complete other end of things, you have advocacy groups that fight tirelessly for the protection of these species and the land they inhabit. Despite the efforts of advocacy groups around the world, animals are still going extinct. This can be attributed to the fact that unfortunately, not every person on our planet feels as strongly about animal welfare, conservation, and the survival of these species. This is too little, too late, but in a much grander scale. You see, without global cooperation and a shared vision for what animal welfare and the importance of our planet's conservation is, we are fighting a losing battle. 

We have poachers running around, shooting and killing endangered animals for their parts to sell for exorbitant amounts of money. We have the incredible value of tiger blood, bear bile, ivory, pangolin scales etc., fueling the motivation to slaughter endangered animals. We have legal hunts, supposedly aiding in conservation while the very same animals they shoot face the possibility of extinction within 30 years. This clash continues to drive species on our planet towards extinction. There is just such a divide between those of us who want to see a future for all living beings, and those who will only care when these species have gone extinct. This divide has, and will continue to fit our narrative of too little, too late when it comes to extinction.

HAPPY VEG