By Paul Clark (aka motomynd)
The Huffington Post article "Satao the Elephant Killed by Poachers in Kenya" tells of the tragic killing of Satao, half-brother of the allegedly fictional Mastodon, who was mentioned in the chapter from Poacher that was published here last August 31 ["The Melon Gambit," by motomynd (aka Paul Clark)].
There is no proof yet, but it is a solid bet that Satao, just like most of the other elephants that have been poached in exponentially increasing numbers in recent years, was a victim of the underground pipeline set up by the Chinese government to provide a steady flow of ivory to its state-sponsored guild of ivory carvers.
What Americans did to wildlife in general across their western territories, and to the bison in particular, is what the Chinese are now doing across Africa. Unfortunately for the African animals, the Chinese are even more ruthless in their objectives than were the Americans; what took nearly a century in North America will probably take only 25 years or so in Africa.
I am glad I was able to spend at least a little time in Africa when it was still at least somewhat wild, and that I had time in the company of the men who were the models for the fictional Keith and Greg described in Poacher. With the Chinese government clandestinely but actively endorsing poaching, and more than one million Chinese people having now permanently resettled from China to Africa, the anti-poaching effort is lost. It is feasible to go into certain small areas of Africa and save a few remnant populations of certain choice species by endeavoring to shoot anyone who comes into those areas illegally; it is unfortunately impractical to shoot one million people intent on destroying a huge swath of Nature, especially when they have the political, commercial, and military backing of some of the most powerful people in the world.
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Copyright © 2014 by Paul Clark
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It troubles us deeply that motomynd's fiction last August about a poacher patrol in Africa is echoed by facts recently reported of the fate of one elephant known by name.
ReplyDeleteEven more disturbing is the millions of Chinese who have settled in these countries. China built a Super Soccer Stadium in San Jose Costa Rica. The only way they would build the stadium was if all the workers were Chinese.
ReplyDeleteIn CR you cannot work unless you are a citizen. The government fast tracked the Chinese and made them citizens. Now there is a large China Town in San Jose and those former workers have the right to vote. Not unlike Alexander who married his solders to the locals after
he conquered their cities.
Ed, do you know why CR didn't turn down the marriage proposal? Money too sweet, I suppose.
DeleteIt was soccer. Taiwan had offered to build a highway a cross the top of CR. But once CR jumped in bed with China Taiwan packed their bags and went home. CR won their first time ever moving ahead in the World Cup and the country went crazy yesterday. China is building its power around the world with one little crack at a time.
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