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Texas A&M University, Commerce *

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435

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Anthropology

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Oct 30, 2023

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CHAPTER 2 Neglect and Exploitation In common with the forests, the bison herds seemed endless. But a tide of humanity drove westward, multiplying as it came. It was a characteristic biological force similar to those we habitually misjudge because of their small beginnings. If unchecked, they can take over the world while our backs are turned. Durward Allen (1974a) Cultures advance only when their participants learn from history. The dynamic record of human affairs thus presents each new generation with the opportu- nity to analyze previous mistakes. An examination of history also offers fresh opportunities for cultures to repeat previous successes. Indeed, knowledge gained from the physical and natural sciences has added steadily to advances in technology. We have been slower, however, to learn from social experiences. Human activities often have produced extensive changes-favorable and unfavorable-in popula- tions of other animals that share our planet. With the hope that we might learn from earlier mistakes, this chapter examines the record of failings in the human treatment of wildlife. 2.1 IN THE BEGINNING According to the King James version of Genesis 1:28, God's instructions to Adam and Eve were to "be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the Earth, and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the Earth." Dominion over the creatures and replenishment of the Earth implies some sort of management-or conquest-of wildlife and their environments. Whether or not the story of Adam and Eve is merely symbolic of life's beginnings is unimportant here. Instead, we are concerned with the underlying attitude expressed in Genesis that portrays the Earth as the human dominion. That concept has influenced the behavior of countless generations of humans liv- ing in western Asia, Europe, and most recently the Western Hemisphere (White 1967). For centuries, humans have enjoyed overwhelming success at being fruitful and multiplying. People have gained domin- ion over other living things, except for certain nox- ious microbes, insects, and rodents, but the human record for replenishing the Earth has been rather dismal. Humans in the Western world have taken to heart the instruction to subdue the Earth. Wilderness and wild animals for centuries were regarded as no more than enemies to be conquered or, at best, as subordi- nates to be controlled (Nash 1982). Only in recent years have we started to regard ourselves as one part of an intricate web of life. In the modern view, we recognize our links not just with the physical envi- ronment but also with vegetation and other animals, including

those organisms that ultimately decompose all forms of life. As civilization spread across Europe in antiquity (ca. 1000 B.C.-A.D. 500), wild animals were gradually replaced by domestic flocks. Lions (Panthera leo) soon were extirpated in Europe and gray wolves (Canis lupus) were pushed into remote patches of mountain- ous and forested lands. Wild aurochs (Bos primige- nius) were captured and bred with other cattle until 7

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