Background - A Short Safari Adventure Among Africa's Thorny Bushveld Wildlife - page 24

States and the issues noted above challenging the society of mankind. Indeed, we covered so
much ground it was more like Ernest Hemingway, Michael DeBakey, Philip Percival, Teddy
Roosevelt, Jared Diamond and Al Gore thrown together to have a chat about earth, humanity,
wildlife, hunting, diseases, and climate challenges. Our space capsule orbiting the sun is
running out of resources for the seven billion incumbents and the challenge is no longer just
preserving our resources, means of production and conservation, but restoring the biodiversity
we used to have so all peoples and animals will survive through the forthcoming population
bottleneck of some nine billion people before the population declines.
We have only 50 million square miles to live on and 17 million available for agriculture,
either cultivation (one third) or pasture (two thirds), for the seven billion people. Furthermore,
only 2.5 percent of the earth's water is fresh, 70 percent is tied up in ice and one fifth of the
world's population lives in water scarce areas.
Melting Glacier in Greenland
Of the usable water, 85 percent is used for agriculture and parks and golf courses, 6 percent
for domestic use, and 4 percent by industry. For each square mile, 411 people, 5,500
mammals, 10,000 bird species, and 9,500 reptile species need to share the land. On the
Lebombo Plain there are 147 mammal, 505 bird, 119 reptile, 49 fish and 1,980 plant species.
The land has to provide for this wildlife, the water and vegetation for herbivores to feed on,