Apex Predator Predation

So it's a tragedy if African Lions are being massively depopulated, and "there has to be a political commitment to protect wildlife," but trust me, no one in Kansas is super eager to return roving packs of wolves and a sizable population of cougars to our area. Lions are an apex predator. So are humans. One per area is a pretty safe bet.

"But there should be lions in Africa - for tourism," one might counter-argue. Fine. Then (for tourism) there should be wild packs of wolves on the Plains, widespread black bears east of the Mississippi, Grizzlies from Montana to New Mexico, etc etc. Show after show portrays the depopulation of elephants, rhinos, and their ilk as some sort of colossal tragedy that must be corrected by a concerted, international effort. Where is the rush to restore America's bison herd? Where is the "political commitment" to restore the Atlantic cod population? Where are we asking Americans to build higher fences around their cattle pastures so that the wolves can roam free?

In the United States...in fact in most of the First World...if you want to see wild animals and engage in tourism of that sort, then you go to the zoo. We've adopted the cultural understanding that wild apex predators are not a good thing for stable economies. And while I appreciate that "traveling to Africa to see lions" is a commodity some are willing to pay (an extremely large sum of money) for, it is not for us wealthy Westerners to decide the actions of the indigenous population of West Africa. If the march of human progress in their country includes increasing agriculture, then with them we will lament the gradual taming of the landscape and the loss of wild populations as a result. But that was what we did here in America 200 years ago, and we claim that as our proud cultural heritage.

The truth here is that there is a double-standard. It's pretty obvious. We want Africa to stay Africa. We don't want the deadly predators to be wiped out. We don't want people to ambitiously build more farms and eventually towns and eventually power stations and eventually cities and eventually high-rise offices where they design a better future for themselves and engage the global economy. That's our job. Their job is to support our tourists. And occasionally get eaten by a lion.


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