Human beings have evicted most of our fellow animals out of almost all of the world. This is an ongoing effort here in Texas, as people gleefully pursue the slaughter of the remaining wild boars. The Serengeti Plain and adjoining areas of Northwestern Tanzania and Southwestern Kenya are a rare exception, tens of thousands of square miles maintained as a preserve for dozens of species of grass-eaters and carnivores. The two countries depend on the tourist attraction of this area for a good deal of revenue, but a significant factor is that this is a generally dry area with thin soil unsuitable for extensive agricultural production. A million years ago, however, the area was much wetter and lusher and the presence of Oldupai Gorge (Olduvai was a German mispronunciation) makes this region of the world a good candidate for consideration as the possible birthplace of the human race. I find in all of this a very strange irony. The one place we largely stay out of and leave to the animals out of this whole planet, may be the very place where we originated.
Posted on: Mon, 12 Aug 2013 18:30:48 +0000
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