The word "extinction" is like an ancient myth that everyone has only heard of, but has never really seen.
Now, however, animal species in nature are dying out at an unprecedented rate, and we are facing a sixth mass extinction...
Unlike the 66 million-year-old dinosaur extinction, this time it was a species-driven mass extinction, and this species is human.
In order to arouse the society's attention to biodiversity conservation, "Dialogue" invited three relevant practitioners, namely Li Junsheng, director of the Institute of Ecology of the Chinese Academy of Environmental Sciences, Guo Geng, author of "Animal Death" and expert in animal protection science, and Ma Fang, director of the documentary "Common Homeland", to tell us the legendary story of an elk, a deer unique to China.
Discovery
Elk, its more widely known name is "four unlike", horns like deer not deer, face like horses not horses, hooves like cattle instead of cattle, tails like donkeys not donkeys.
Mr. Guo Geng introduced: "As a deer animal unique to China, it has always been unknown to outsiders and lives in China. But with the increase in population, the reduction of wetlands, and excessive hunting, by the end of the Qing Dynasty, elk was almost invisible in China. Then there is only one place that has survived, and that is the Nanyuan at that time.
In 1865, a French missionary named Armand David came, and he climbed the wall and looked inside, what is this? The people told him: Four is not the same. He wrote it in The Diary of David. Father David obtained two specimens of elk skulls and feet from the Royal Hunting Grounds, transported them to France, and after identification by miller Edward, a zoologist at the Natural Museum of Nature in Paris, found that this was not only a new species, but also a separate genus, very unique in classification, and after publishing the paper, it caused a sensation in western science. ”
"Unexpectedly, two years after David discovered, many zoos in Europe came to China to exchange, buy, and ask for it with the Qing Dynasty, and dozens of elk were sent to zoos in Europe at one time."
Endangered
Since ancient times in China, the elk has been a symbol of power and exorcism, and a mythical beast in folklore, enjoying the reputation of a national treasure and being Called China's "living natural and cultural heritage".
For elk, however, their bumpy story has only just begun...
Mr. Guo Geng went on to say: "With the entry of the Eight-Power Alliance in 1900, with the war, it was all extinct here. ”
"Elk living in Europe aren't lucky either, why?" Because the elk species is particularly special, it only lives in wetlands, but the Western zoo is a fence, not a wetland, so the more it lives, the less it is raised. ”
These "mascots" are so fateful, so devastated by war and the environment, that they are about to become extinct! What should I do now?
Reverse
At the moment of danger, a man appeared who made the elk desperate.
Mr. Guo Geng introduced: "A hereditary duke in England is called the Duke of Befort. He bought all the elk and kept them on his estate. ”
But now more and more elk are also seen on Chinese soil. How did elk go through the process of returning to their hometown from abroad?
Mr. Guo Geng continued: "In 1985, some scholars, including in China and the United Kingdom, called for the elk to return home. As a result, on August 24, 1985, elk flew a plane, ending its overseas chinese career of nearly a century of wandering overseas, and returned to its hometown, Nanhaizi, Beijing. In 1986, 39 more elk were sent to Dafeng, Jiangsu Province, China. There are 38 in Beijing, 39 in Dafeng, and these two groups of elk in China go hand in hand, and have reached more than 10,000 today. Not only has it realized the return from abroad to the country, but also realized the return from artificial to natural. ”
From extinction to rebirth, from wandering to returning home, the story of the elk's vicissitudes is heart-wrenching and heart-wrenching, "extinction" is unimaginable to human beings, but for them, it once existed in every moment.
However, in addition to elk, there are many more species that we need to pay attention to.
A few days ago, the "elephant homecoming" that occurred in Yunnan swept the major media.
In the process of their return home, 25,000 people were invested in the support team; 15,000 emergency vehicles were prepared; 150,000 people were transported along the way to make way for them; and the loss settlement claims along the way reached more than 5 million yuan.
With such a large investment, many people have raised a question: Is it worth it for us to spend so much effort to protect it?
Mr. Li Junsheng also said: "We are protecting biodiversity, to put it bluntly, we are actually protecting ourselves, protecting our children and grandchildren, so that our human beings can develop at an even speed." ”
Director Ma Fang said: "Now more than half of the global GDP, 44 trillion US dollars, actually comes from the contribution of natural resources. The economic account is not calculated at one time, in fact, nature's dependence on us is far smaller than our dependence on nature. ”
In the long history of the planet, we and these animals accidentally appear in the same time and space, gradually familiar, accompany each other, enjoy the magical life experience together to protect animals, not condescending care, but practical empathy, to protect the growth of all things, is the determination, but also the mission!
What kind of appeals did the experts make at the scene?
What are the biggest difficulties in rescuing endangered animals?
CCTV-2 CCTV Financial Channel
Saturday, October 23 at 21:30
"Dialogue" column "Everything Grows"
Source: CCTV Finance (ID:cctvyscj)
Producer: Ke Chengyun
This article is edited by Dai Yuanjun