Accidental Killers

“The worst sin towards our fellow-creatures is not to hate them, but to be indifferent to them: that’s the essence of inhumanity.” -- George Bernard Shaw Heading north on Highway 82 I spotted what looked like a wing off in the distance. I slowed down as I approached and saw what looked like a raptor. I pulled off to the side of the road and walked back to find a Great Horned Owl. I took this magnificent bird home and buried it. That experience inspired me to write this blog.

You and I are killers--accidental, maybe indifferent, but killers nonetheless. I'm certainly guilty and I suspect that many of you have run over or hit some life form that crossed your path as you headed down the road. In my neck of the woods, I have had several near misses: deer, javelina, rabbits, coatimundis, skunks, snakes, coyotes, foxes, ravens, and buzzards not to mention someone's cat or dog.

According to Wikipedia,"In the United States, over 1 million vertebrate animals are killed by vehicle collisions every day. Globally, the number amounts to roughly 5.5 million killed per day, which when extrapolated climbs to over 2 billion annually."

In an article published in the April 2022 edition of Scientific American, "Roadkill Literally ‘Drives’ Some Species to Extinction" Menno Schilthuizen wrote: "In 2020 Clara Grilo of the University of Aveiro in Portugal and her colleagues pulled together data from 90 European roadkill surveys and concluded that, on Europe’s roads, 194 million birds and 29 million mammals die annually. Similar calculations suggest that each year, more than 350 million vertebrate animals are killed by traffic in the U.S.

Hwy 82 between Nogales and Sonoita

Between approximately September 13 and September 26, on a 25-mile stretch of highway between Sonoita and Nogales, I found (L to R), a white-tailed deer, a great horned owl, and a bobcat as well as (not shown) two foxes, two buzzards, two coyotes, three javelina, and several skunks. This does not include animals that may have suffered a glancing blow and died somewhere off the side of the road.

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“You have just dined, and however scrupulously the slaughterhouse is concealed in the graceful distance of miles, there is complicity.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson

Food Kill Clock

We have to eat to survive. Meat is a good source of protein. Most of us are carnivores. Humans evolved as predators and meat has always been part of our diet. I get it. However, I suspect that most of us don't know, don't want to know, or don't care what that means when it comes to the number of domesticated animals killed each year for food, and the horrible conditions under which many of them are kept.

Well, the World Animal Foundation keeps track of the number of domesticated animals killed each year for food. There's a link to what is called the Animal Kill Clock -- it continuously updates. It is in the billions. I checked the clock just before publishing this blog. The annual number as of, early morning, October 1, 2023 was: 41,491,087,158 and counting.

Stats

Based on my very preliminary research, here are some sobering stats from the foundation:

* 2021 Stats, Annually Almost 83 Billion Animals Were Killed Worldwide

* More than 100 Million Animals Are Killed Each Year by Hunters in the US

* Almost 1.5 Billion Cows Are Killed Each Year

* In 2021, 34.36 Million Cows Were Killed in the US for Food

* Around 3.5 Million Pigs Are Slaughtered Annually

* Globally More than 73 Billion Chickens Are Slaughtered

* Almost 2.1 Billion Wild Fish Are Caught and Killed Every Day for Food

* Almost 749 Million Geese and 52 Million Guinea Fowls Are Killed Annually

* In 2021, More Than 500 Million Goats Were Slaughtered for Food

* More than 20 Million Animals Die Annually in the US On their Way to Abattoirs

These numbers do not include what is referred to as wildlife markets like those found in China, South Asia, and South America. Read more. In addition to killing wildlife for food, there is also the illicit trade in wildlife. Read more.

Hunting According to the Journal of African Elephants, "Each year approximately 35,000 elephants are killed in Africa. If their population continues to decline, ecosystems will be affected. On a global scale, we are experiencing massive climate change. Elephants are part of the SOLUTION to climate change. Their mighty presence as a keystone species helps with carbon sequestration. According to a BBC report, the African elephant can sequester up to 9,5000 metric tons per year which is equivalent to emissions from over 2,000 cars. "

* Globally, 100 Million Sharks Are Killed Annually (Greenpeace.org)

* World Animal Protection blog entitled, "8 Trophy Hunting Facts That Will Make You Scream", states that "...between 2005 and 2014, more than 1.26 million wildlife trophies were imported to the U.S. alone. That averages to approximately 126,000 animals killed and imported into our country each year. Between 2008 and 2017, nearly 40,000 animal trophies from African elephants, just over 8,000 from leopards, and 14,000 from African lions were exported worldwide."

Birds

Not included in the above stats are the declining bird populations worldwide. That may become the subject of a future blog. For now, I refer you to the Cornell Chronicle's post, "Global bird populations steadily decline." If you are interested in keeping track, visit the International Union for Conservation of Nature’s website where you will find the “Red List”: of threatened species. When you boil it all down, it's all about us and what we are doing to the planet that has led us here.

So...

Can we go on like this? I don't think so. Along with all of the other human-caused disruptions we are experiencing, we seem to be inching closer to a tipping point and coming face to face with what may become nature's haunting response to our collective indifference.

What say you?