Humans Vs Animals: A Lose-Lose Battle

Do you know what the last makeup look for summer is? “Dolphin skin” look. Yes, giving the impression of having a wet, slippery and silky-smooth skin like that of a dolphin, using makeup tricks, is the latest trend. It has a number of high-profile fans from supermodel Bella Hadid to reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

Isn’t it ironic that we see this beauty trend start around the same time as the Dolphin hunting season ends? The Taiji’s Dolphin drive hunt lasts over six months in Japan mainly from September till about March. During the 2019-20 season alone, over 560 Dolphins were slaughtered while hundreds more were captured or accidentally killed.

Humans adore nature and look for beauty in it, but also make every effort to tame it for entertainment, use it for benefits or even kill and eat it to the point of extinction.

With the increase in world population and change in food habits, the pressure for food, especially protein, is increasing at a pace where demand outstrips supply. This leads us to engage in deforestation, unsustainable agricultural practices and wildlife exploitation to fulfil the demand for meat. People eat all types of animals, domestic and wild, to satisfy their protein needs. The belief that human life is superior to animal or plant life drives us to do it guilt-free.

With advancements in technology, we can control and kill more efficiently while protecting ourselves with biotechnology. For example, improvements in fishing techniques have led to something called bottom trawling. It basically means dragging huge heavy nets across the ocean floor, picking up everything along the way. The fish having commercial use are retained and the bycatch of unprofitable animals and corals are thrown back into the sea. The hurt animals mostly die and the damage to the seafloor is irreplaceable. In the longer term, these selfish actions of humans cause ecological imbalance and biodegradation of natural habitats.

On land, deforestation and illegal wildlife trade leads to the loss of habitat for animals and ultimately endangerment or extinction of species. While the larger impact on climate is focused on, there is less focus on deforestation which subsequently leads to diet changes in the effected population. Studies have clearly shown that with their regular source of fruits and vegetables gone, humans tend to eat more protein-rich diets obtained through processed supermarket meat or from wild animals.

Overtime, this exploitation of nature on both land and at sea, changes the precarious balance between how animals and humans interact and finally backfires in the form of Zoonotic diseases.

Zoonotic disease is a form of disease that transmits from animals to humans. In the last century, we have had around six major outbreaks with Ebola and the recent COVID-19 being the latest and the most well-known among them.

It is widely agreed that both came from contact with wild bats, when they were used as food source. In June, a new swine flu strain with potential for turning into a pandemic was discovered among pigs in China.

All of this can be traced back to the rise in demand for protein. Meat production has increased significantly in the last 50 years. We no longer think much of tucking into a burger instead of having a home cooked vegetarian meal. It not only causes health issues but also has a long-term effect on the Earth’s ecosystem.

With the world population slated to reach nine billion by 2050, it will be impossible to feed it at the current level of protein intake. After eating up all available animals on earth, we will need four more Earth’s for it.

Instead, making slight changes to our food habits will go a long way in not only preserving Earth and its biodiversity but also benefit our health. For example, if just the population of the US went meat free one day a week, it would prevent greenhouse gas emissions equal to that produced by all of France and cut the risk of disease by 19%.

COVID-19 has given us a flavour of the large scale impact that Zoonotic diseases can have. The UN recently published a report that offers governments strategies on how to prevent future Zoonotic outbreaks through sustainable land management, improving biodiversity and investing in scientific research.

Inger Andersen, under-secretary general and executive director of the UN Environment Programme, has said. “The science is clear that if we keep exploiting wildlife and destroying our ecosystems, then we can expect to see a steady stream of these diseases jumping from animals to humans in the years ahead. To prevent future outbreaks, we must become much more deliberate about protecting our natural environment.”

It is unrealistic to expect the entire world to change their food habits and go vegan overnight. However, implementing planned and strict government policy on deforestation, raising awareness among the population about respecting the balance with our natural habitat and taking steps to preserve biodiversity would have a massive positive impact on avoiding any future outbreak of Zoonotic diseases.

Isn’t it high time, we think about a global long-term strategy for food consumption and production across the world? If we continue the current trend of mindless exploitation, then our aspiration for Dolphin skin and Cheetah’s speed will depend on historical references rather than live examples. Our next generation may never get to see them in real life.

We may end up losing the very nature we love to admire and imitate while the occurrence of novel diseases will increase in frequency and intensity, till life as we know it will be lost forever.