Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
point of trees more by the heat burning more of the canopy and destroying seeds. Thus, in the
case of the Hluhluwe Game Reserve, because of woodland encroachment, the population of
grazing herds such as zebra and wildebeest crashed and are in danger of becoming locally
extinct. Hence, mega herbivores such as elephants, rhino, and hippos are essential to the health
of an ecosystem in Africa and indeed they make up more than 50 percent of the biomass as long
as they do not come to dominate it and destroy it as in Botswana or Amboseli. In Amboseli,
elephants destroyed the woodland areas with the result of loss of large mammal diversity,
particularly the local extinction or loss of woodland browsers such as black rhino, giraffe,
kudu, and impala. The same is happening in Botswana's Okavango and Chobe Game Reserves.
Thus, large areas are required to allow the interaction between habitat and the wildlife
populations with not only apex predators but also mega herbivores and this is the challenge to
re-establishing wildlife populations and preventing extinctions. The important reason for
biodiversity is that with greater heterogeneity an ecosystem is more able to withstand and have
the resilience to survive an outside shock to its system. Thus, while cloven hoofed animals,
particularly cattle, were killed off by rinderpest, not all food source herbivores were killed.
Books, San Bushmen Imperatives, the Hunting Process, and Wildlife Sustainable
Restorancy; we are not experts on all we discuss but relate our experience and
perceptions:
Laurence Durrell, in his novels the Alexandria Quartet, describes the interrelationships of
friends and acquaintances before and during the early Second World War. Each subsequent
topic, like the layers of an onion, give more detailed nuances of the interrelationships and how
they are perceived differently by the characters. He was later to say that this was a meditation
on Einstein's Theory of Relativity and how time influences perceptions. As far as perceptions
are concerned it is worthwhile to paraphrase C.S. Lewis who said perceptions are dependent
where you stand and who you are. This also can be applied to ethics, for example, with
reference to eating meat, killing domestic or wildlife for food, alien species, hunting for food
or trophies, breeding or domestication of wildlife, animal research, human research, and the
broader issue of conflicts of interest, not only financial but also favors in a “gift” economy.
This topic also has layers of perception but is not a novel, and in this era of post-modernism
the topic format is somewhat different. The format follows a description of day's events during
this trip by Bruce and the subsequent discussion around an evening fire of the thoughts on our
minds and how this fits into the panorama of life and death. Background information is
reviewed and a reference section of photographs and descriptions of the African animals of
interest is provided, namely, of the beasts, the beautiful, and the biters (The Terrible Twelve).
Our topic is based on dictations and notes done during our trip and thus is more in spoken
prose rather than carefully narrated writing. Most additions are noted in square brackets. We
trust this gives more immediacy to the trip and the discussions. Furthermore, the aim was not to
write a topic with great euphuistic style - Shakespeare's writing can never be rivaled, and his
insights into the human endeavor or experience can hardly be equaled. As much as we admire
and enjoy reading Africa topics of a travelogue nature, such as those of Livingstone, the British
hunter- adventurers, Roosevelt, Hemingway, Ruark, Hunter, Capstick, Paul Theroux, their
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