Scot Scoop News • March 2, 2025 • https://scotscoop.com/an-endangered/
Cartoon: An endangered appetite
Skylin Lui, Staff Writer
Hundreds of species are threatened by human hunger or greed, eaten to extinction. Throughout history, until the very beginning, humans have exercised their careless disregard for animals by consuming and consuming until there’s nothing left. Similarliy to the white rhino, the woolly mammoth, who met its untimely end through a lethal combination of a warming climate and extensive hunting, marks one of the first examples. Another prime example is the ortolan bunting, a small Eurasian bird that has been eaten as a delicacy and has been prized since Roman times. The tradition is that this bird is fried whole and must be eaten in one foul bite under a napkin to hide the sins of the consumer from God. Hunting ortolans has been banned in France since 1999, yet 30,000 birds are trapped yearly, according to the RSPB. Despite conservation efforts, the ortolan population dropped by 84% between 1980 and 2012. However, it’s not only the mammoth and the ortolan at risk. The human population’s culinary habits threaten 301 land mammal species with extinction. This raises the question, why must they continue if someone is aware of their sins and goes as far as hiding underneath a sheer paper cloth? (Skylin Lui)
