Another mountain lion was slain last night in a recently developed area that has been their natural habitat for centuries. The animal was shot with high powered rifles by men wearing night-vision goggles. What's wrong with this picture?
Mountain lions are carnivores that prey mainly on moose, elk, and deer. They also eat squirrels, rabbits, skunks, raccoons and birds. They occasionally kill livestock when confused about where their territory is as we are shrinking it more every year, but generally shun humans so they don't realistically pose much threat to us.
Unfortunately, they live on land that has become valuable as human populations explode. If people moving into such areas would educate themselves about the behaviors of these animals, they could avoid contact with them. It is almost never necessary to kill an animal unless one is looking for a trophy. It would be more humane to relocate them to remote woodlands, but deer hunters have powerful lobbies and the government is unwilling to spend money on inedible creatures. So the encroachment and slaughtering continue.
If gun-happy hunters have their way, the world will soon be devoid of any animals but humans. In our arrogance, we forget that we are also animals, and are therefore a part of the natural order. We were commanded long ago to tend the animals. We are not doing so. If we are truly the guardians of the earth, we need to start acting like it. I doubt we were given such large brains so we could think of more ways to kill all the other species that share this planet.
I don't understand how anyone can enjoy murdering a beautiful, unarmed creature. It's sick and terribly sad that we have so little compassion when we have such great capacity to be kind and to do good. Sometimes I'm ashamed to be a member of the cruelest species on earth.
