Vectors

Lions are on their way out, and I say let them die. Let them die and erase all record of their passing, so that future generations will have nothing to mourn. Why save them? We have nothing more to learn from them. What do they have to offer us? Sport, and expensive coats. We don't need lions to make expensive coats. Logos make expensive coats; nobody cares what they are made of. Lions are no good as a source of food, and we already have cows, which are large and placid and fat. We could train the lions to be large and placid and fat too, but it would be a waste of money that would be better spent improving the cows. Lions are not entertaining. They spend most of their time asleep.

Unlike plants, lions produce neither oxygen nor medicinal cures. They require large amounts of land to survive, land that would be put to better use for farming. They're dangerous and eat livestock, and give nothing back in return. Being at the top of the food chain makes their removal less traumatic. Granted, the zebra population will explode, but then again it probably won't because they're all dying out too. Do people ride zebras? Or eat them? If the answer is no in both cases, what does it matter?

We in the West may care about lions, but apart from tourism, does the government of Somalia care? If they could exchange their environment for a victorious war with Ethiopia, would they say no? And who could blame them?

There is really no reason why we should lift a finger or spend a penny to prevent the extinction of lions. Modern firearms, military equipment and telecommunications remove all challenge and excitement from hunting them. Children would rather play with imaginary monsters. And as a brand, as a symbol of power, the lion has been overused to the point of meaninglessness.

So, let them die. Relegate them to books, and then burn the books. They were an evolutionary dead-end. Nature does not care. God will not punish us. Nobody is keeping score.