The Extinction of Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom
When I was young one of my favorite programs to watch on Sunday evenings was
Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom,
hosted by Marlin Perkins, one of the leading ecologists of his time.
Although I don't remember preservation being Wild Kingdom's message at the time, I can see now that it was certainly the predecessor of today's Animal Planet and The Discovery Channel.
Now, Some 40 years later,
there are Whole Networks dedicated to education and preservation of our animal kin, to enjoy with our families, but
how disappointed I was then, when that one show itself became extinct.
But today, I learned something very hopeful.
Although many, many species face extinction, due to hunting, fishing, poaching and the mysterious hand of nature herself, Mother Nature yet continues to create and surprise us.
Scientists, in the past decade have discovered over 1,000 new species in Southeast Asia's Greater Mekong region alone. Species, of plants, reptiles, spiders, mammals, birds and fish. And they weren't all discovered in remote jungles. A rat species, thought to be extinct about 11 million years ago was discovered in a local market and a brilliant green pit viper in the rafters of a restaurant in a National Park: walking among us.
But what I find as wonderfully awe-inspiring as what I learned 35 years ago on Wild Kingdom, is that Nature does continue to renew and replace her own.
Yes, it is true that many of our most amazing and interesting animals do face the possibility of extinction, but it's also true, that the cycle of life and death will continue, in spite of us.
This is not to say that we shouldn't take care to protect all life; on the contrary.
All life, is sacred, and should most certainly be protected.
But just as Television Nature Shows run their course, and are gone for decades, technology steps in, 30 years later and offers us DVDs, to relive our sentimental past.
Who'da thunk it?
Certainly not me.
But, If a Rat, extinct for 11 MILLION years can resurface,
than just about anything is possible,
and hope does spring eternal.
If Mother nature can regenerate, and replace in ever more complex and creative ways,
like the discovery of a cyanide laced electric-pink millipede, then we too can resurrect our dormant selves, and re-emerge triumphant, across our ever melting, yet ever freezing tundras.
And species do exist
in even the arctic tundras,
Although the climate is extremely cold
there is little diversity
and short seasons of growth and reproduction
but despite this
there are nutrients from dead organic material;
material which had to die
but supports that limited diversity
and on the tundra
there are shifts
population oscillations
which is inevitable
for it is nature's way
And that's a comforting thought.
Yes, It was disappointing when Mutual of Omaha's Wild Kingdom finally became Extinct in the 1980's, and by then I was in College.
But as history often dictates, and the future always shows, Tomorrow is a Mystery.
What may end up on The Discovery Channel tomorrow
might be the resurrection of something from the past, or something entirely different.
Odds are, one or Both may happen, and both may be a blessing.
So We need to Stay Tuned.....
"What future bliss He gives not thee to know,
But gives that hope to be thy blessing now.
Hope springs eternal in the human breast:
Man never is, but always to be, blest.
The soul, uneasy and confin'd from home,
Rests and expatiates in a life to come."
-Alexander Pope
EPISTLE I:
Of the Nature and State of Man, With Respect to the Universe
