thephotosocietyのインスタグラム(thephotosociety) - 7月27日 09時40分

Photo: @momatiukeastcott/@thephotosociety | the big squeeze |
We sleep in the shadow of elephant gallows.
True, the elephants in Etosha National Park were not hanged: they were tranquilized with darts, then shot. But the structure, erected to hoist and butcher huge inert bodies of the largest mammals still walking the Earth resembles oversized gallows of old. Viewed from a hide for tourists at a new waterhole, the structure looms above a lovely campground and golden grasses of the park. Its rust resembles dried blood.

We learn 525 elephants were killed and butchered here in the early 1980s. A display explains that as poaching of elephants accelerated in Northwest Namibia, many pachyderms migrated to the safety of the park. But 1983 was very dry in Etosha, so the management decided to cull a percentage of the park's largest herbivores. It was done efficiently and well, and an artist rendered the final scene: a lifeless gray bulk, suspended from the tall white frame. It comes to me in my dreams.
I do not accuse anyone here. We all know that as our human population grows, we need more room. We grow crops, build shelters, factories and roads, tap springs, extract fossil fuels. Etosha used to cover 30,000 sq.miles; it now shrank to 8,500. The big squeeze is on.

We see helicopters looking for rhino poachers in the park. And there are waterholes visited by tourists where much of the wildlife must come to survive during these hard dry days of winter. We see herds of antelopes, zebras and giraffes approaching the water but often hesitating, trying again, and leaving without a sip. Sometimes our presence causes their retreat, or other cars rolling in and out. Kicking up dust, watching the show. It all adds to the pressure.

And so it goes everywhere. As our population grows, the ranks of wildlife diminish. We want to see these animals live their magnificent wild lives. But we do not want to give up anything we imagine we need and want. And we squeeze them more and more. ©Yva Momatiuk
#Namibia #Africa #elephant #ecotourism #population growth #wildlife #momatiukeastcott #Etosha #conservation

[BIHAKUEN]UVシールド(UVShield)

>> 飲む日焼け止め！「UVシールド」を購入する