Have we not been granted one of life's greatest gifts to have had the pleasure of their company. What about the children, ours yet born and theirs, can we deny them this relationship we share?  Do they not deserve the same pleasures nature bestowed on us?

I was raised on a farm with not only domestic animals but also wild game.  I grew up loving all animals, creatures great and small.  My Grandfather, was a game warden and many sick, injured or orphaned animals found safety in our barns.  As a child on the farm you learn about life and death early.  My Grandfather always said to me "When you have livestock, you have dead stock."  Hard words, I thought then, but it is a coping method for dealing with the death of animals in the cycle of life.  Death comes more frequently with the increase of animals you tend.  This natural cycle of life to death I have grown to accept.  However, I also recall the falls, where there was a steady parade of trophy animals proudly presented for my Grandfather to tag.  Game hunting, I can also comprehend when there is a need to thin populations of herds so the majority can survive.  I also accept the need of wildlife as a food source as it has been since the dawn of man.

What I can not condone is the senseless destruction of wildlife in every country on this planet.  How many times does the plight of these creatures have to be discussed and ruled on in governments before someone simply says, "Enough!"  While we are talking, these lovely creatures continue to be slaughtered right under our noses.  Remember the Panda, of course you do.  Not the fuzzy one your child cuddles in their sleep at night, the one that is pleading to survive one more day, week, or year.  So few of them left, that governments now fight to see who has the opportunity to house them temporarily in a zoo.

Let me not point the finger only at those with weapons in their hands who would just as soon kill me for my views, as the Bengal Tiger in their sights.   Much of the destruction of animal life is due to the atmosphere and the pollution we fill the air with, choking out rainforests, killing vegetation and necessary animals in the food chain.

Will you be content to watch carefully captured moments of these animals in their last days, resigned that they are of no great importance to your life?   Then stop right there, one thing you forget is we are not immune to the same fate as these creatures.  If you think life will cease from the smallest to the largest in some sort of order, then think again.  Man stands in line along with the elephant and the whale and is predeceased by the dinosaurs.

For the children, help Mother Nature, do not throw obstacles in her way.  For the children who might one day look back and say "Thank-you", ours and theirs.

                           Cheryl C. Helynck

                                      1998