This is the introduction to a series on animals that are endangered or in decline, giving them a name so that we can give them a voice.
A.E. (Anthony) Lovell
Meet this tribe
These far flung ones
Precious ones we can’t let go
Little do they know
Their lives are in our hands
And in our plans
What is the plan for these friends
Endangered or in decline?
But they are not numbers
Or strange tongue twisting names
Linnaean Taxonomic classifications
They are sentient beings
We are sentient beings
We have that in common
But only we can control
Whether they get to keep ther home
In the wild, not in captivity
We want to see them in the future
In their natural estate
Not protected by being taken and contained
Effectively gone in the wild
On the shortlist to extinction
Let’s get them off the list
Let’s treat them with respect
As if their life matters
To them and us
Directly and indirectly
We are their greatest threat
We’re giving them a name
And a face to go with it
And a tribe to recognise
These endangered ones banding together
Safety in numbers is their hope
And names as fellow creatures
Their rescue rope
We’ve anthropologised them
Within an inch of their lives
Some even further, now gone
Now we must anthropomorphise
To call them back from the brink
There are better ways in the future
Just recognise sentience
We have to lo and behold them
To hold them and keep them dear
With all the life on earth
encircled on this sphere
The first is George...
He already has his name
Then it will be your turn
To give the others
Their names
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