Colonialism Complications
Rob Cochran | December 2018
Down Under has a place in my heart. It was my destination for my Gap Year trip, where I spent 2 months exploring outdoor recreational activities, helped out with conservation efforts, and learned what happened to get Australia where it is today. It is also home to the epitome of my childhood; the Tasmanian Devil. Well, technically it isn’t home, anymore. I took a day trip to The Australia Zoo to see all the wildlife that is native, excuse me, that used to be native to Australia. Artificial caves, rocks and a border built the exhibit that held two Tasmanian Devils. No they do not spin around in a circle to create a Tornado; Taz from Looney Tunes does that. No they are not brown either, they are black.
Whenever this organism is brought up, people go to their childhood cartoon show. I go to my childhood fantasies and dreams. Dreams of going to the wild country, excuse me, former wild country of Australia, and seeing the animal that captivated my imagination for so long. My experience at the zoo was underwhelming. It seemed oddly unnatural. A zoo seemed unnatural… surprising. Maybe it was the fact that these two creatures were separated approximately 1,435 miles away from their brothers and sisters. Artificially placed in captivity, in a land where they roam, excuse me, used to roam.
James Cook found this hidden continent in the year 1770. It became a land to hold prisoners, but eventually became a jail for the native species that lived there. There is a hidden side of colonialism. Different but similar from the exploitation and killing off of the native people. Throughout my trip I heard of the injustices that British colonists did to the indigenous populations of Australia. This topic was riddled throughout the huge metropolitan areas of Australia. Indigenous museums, giving light of what used to be, what happened, and how colonists redeemed themselves through conservation acts, returning land to the original owners, and recognizing these people through governmental processes.
On the other hand, there was no redemption story for animals. There wasn’t even a story. In order to hear about injustices done to organisms other than humans, I had to travel by ferry to a conservation island; you had to try and get the information out. The indigenous voices are amplified because there was a recognition of the wrong done to them, and their country, but there is no redemption story of the native animals of Australia. Nothing has been redeemed. Australia is the America of the southern hemisphere. A country that wronged the natural world but has not recognized it, nor done anything to make up for their mistreatment.
Tasmanian Devils used to run rampant in mainland Australia. When settlers arrived, they brought dingoes and other non-native animals that increase competition for the Devils. Preference of nature took over. Colonialism brings along the mindset that you can pick and choose who and what you want to be where. As western agriculture infiltrated the land, it offered any easy source of food for the devils. Chicken became a main food source. Such a weird thing. You have small carnivorous mammals who now have increased completion for food and land, and you put small defenseless bird in their line of sight, not expecting them to eat. It is the mindset of colonists. When we arrive, things will be how they are in England, if they aren’t we are going to do anything to make it like home. But this is already a home for so many people and so many animals.
As the Tasmanian Devil began to be killed off, and became less preferred by the Brits, their chance of extinction became higher and higher. Luckily their fate was not that of the Tasmanian Tiger, who did become extinct. The Devil was relocated to the island it is named after, Tasmania. There they can thrive, be together, and not get in settlers’ way. They will be safe there, right? Wrong. One thing that was not taken into consideration was that these creatures are fierce with each other. They bite and often kill each other. IF there happened to be some disease that is easily transferable, these animals would kill themselves quickly.
Human exceptionalism runs closely with colonialism. We can manipulate the environment without having any repercussions. Also since we are better and more advanced than other organisms, all we need to do for them is to place them in a safe space. There they can live in harmony, and we don't have to worry about them. The Tasmanian Devil stumped simple conservation efforts, showing that in order to conserve a species, you have to really study what can and can’t affect them.
DFTD (Devils Facial Tumor Disease) is a cancerous, fatal disease that Tasmanian Devils spread through biting each other. Since they live in such close proximity, the disease can spread quite easily. Humans need to intervene once again to correct their wrongs and realize that conservation is more complex than they thought, and animals are not simple creatures. That animals can be just as complex as humans, and that conservation actions are needed to increase the Tasmanian Devils’ chances of surviving, and it is much more than giving them a geographic area. The main ideas are to separate the diseased from the healthy, alongside with detecting and removing the subjects with the disease. Another is harnessing the genotypes that are resistant to this disease, and releasing these subjects to healthy populations, so this gene can evolve into the population. The last discovering a vaccine for the cancer.
Animal livelihoods are not black and white, and neither should their conservation efforts be. The Tasmanian Devil is one of many animals who have been ridden of their native land by humans, and had their significance in the ecosystem completely ignored. Their complex conservation efforts now should be done everywhere, because nothing is black and white in the animal kingdom. Relationships are complex. Animals are complex. Humans are complex.
Rob Cochran | December 2018
Down Under has a place in my heart. It was my destination for my Gap Year trip, where I spent 2 months exploring outdoor recreational activities, helped out with conservation efforts, and learned what happened to get Australia where it is today. It is also home to the epitome of my childhood; the Tasmanian Devil. Well, technically it isn’t home, anymore. I took a day trip to The Australia Zoo to see all the wildlife that is native, excuse me, that used to be native to Australia. Artificial caves, rocks and a border built the exhibit that held two Tasmanian Devils. No they do not spin around in a circle to create a Tornado; Taz from Looney Tunes does that. No they are not brown either, they are black.
Whenever this organism is brought up, people go to their childhood cartoon show. I go to my childhood fantasies and dreams. Dreams of going to the wild country, excuse me, former wild country of Australia, and seeing the animal that captivated my imagination for so long. My experience at the zoo was underwhelming. It seemed oddly unnatural. A zoo seemed unnatural… surprising. Maybe it was the fact that these two creatures were separated approximately 1,435 miles away from their brothers and sisters. Artificially placed in captivity, in a land where they roam, excuse me, used to roam.
James Cook found this hidden continent in the year 1770. It became a land to hold prisoners, but eventually became a jail for the native species that lived there. There is a hidden side of colonialism. Different but similar from the exploitation and killing off of the native people. Throughout my trip I heard of the injustices that British colonists did to the indigenous populations of Australia. This topic was riddled throughout the huge metropolitan areas of Australia. Indigenous museums, giving light of what used to be, what happened, and how colonists redeemed themselves through conservation acts, returning land to the original owners, and recognizing these people through governmental processes.
On the other hand, there was no redemption story for animals. There wasn’t even a story. In order to hear about injustices done to organisms other than humans, I had to travel by ferry to a conservation island; you had to try and get the information out. The indigenous voices are amplified because there was a recognition of the wrong done to them, and their country, but there is no redemption story of the native animals of Australia. Nothing has been redeemed. Australia is the America of the southern hemisphere. A country that wronged the natural world but has not recognized it, nor done anything to make up for their mistreatment.
Tasmanian Devils used to run rampant in mainland Australia. When settlers arrived, they brought dingoes and other non-native animals that increase competition for the Devils. Preference of nature took over. Colonialism brings along the mindset that you can pick and choose who and what you want to be where. As western agriculture infiltrated the land, it offered any easy source of food for the devils. Chicken became a main food source. Such a weird thing. You have small carnivorous mammals who now have increased completion for food and land, and you put small defenseless bird in their line of sight, not expecting them to eat. It is the mindset of colonists. When we arrive, things will be how they are in England, if they aren’t we are going to do anything to make it like home. But this is already a home for so many people and so many animals.
As the Tasmanian Devil began to be killed off, and became less preferred by the Brits, their chance of extinction became higher and higher. Luckily their fate was not that of the Tasmanian Tiger, who did become extinct. The Devil was relocated to the island it is named after, Tasmania. There they can thrive, be together, and not get in settlers’ way. They will be safe there, right? Wrong. One thing that was not taken into consideration was that these creatures are fierce with each other. They bite and often kill each other. IF there happened to be some disease that is easily transferable, these animals would kill themselves quickly.
Human exceptionalism runs closely with colonialism. We can manipulate the environment without having any repercussions. Also since we are better and more advanced than other organisms, all we need to do for them is to place them in a safe space. There they can live in harmony, and we don't have to worry about them. The Tasmanian Devil stumped simple conservation efforts, showing that in order to conserve a species, you have to really study what can and can’t affect them.
DFTD (Devils Facial Tumor Disease) is a cancerous, fatal disease that Tasmanian Devils spread through biting each other. Since they live in such close proximity, the disease can spread quite easily. Humans need to intervene once again to correct their wrongs and realize that conservation is more complex than they thought, and animals are not simple creatures. That animals can be just as complex as humans, and that conservation actions are needed to increase the Tasmanian Devils’ chances of surviving, and it is much more than giving them a geographic area. The main ideas are to separate the diseased from the healthy, alongside with detecting and removing the subjects with the disease. Another is harnessing the genotypes that are resistant to this disease, and releasing these subjects to healthy populations, so this gene can evolve into the population. The last discovering a vaccine for the cancer.
Animal livelihoods are not black and white, and neither should their conservation efforts be. The Tasmanian Devil is one of many animals who have been ridden of their native land by humans, and had their significance in the ecosystem completely ignored. Their complex conservation efforts now should be done everywhere, because nothing is black and white in the animal kingdom. Relationships are complex. Animals are complex. Humans are complex.