The Planetary Killer
E.O. Wilson
By: Erica Hollis
And
Lacey Thompson
“If we continue with
life as normal, Wilson
says, we will produce
a global mass
extinction on the level
of the one that wiped
out the dinosaurs.”
“We have self
awareness and
systems of ethical
behavior. Can we use
them to stop us?”
-Can we?
How are we similar?
• “ Rhinoceroses were once among the rulers of
Earth.”
• How are the Sumatran rhinoceros similar to
us?
Humans =
Rhinoceroses?
“They fight only to defend
themselves and their
young or to drive off other
rhinoceros that invade
their territories.”
Do you have an example
from your life that you can
relate to this?
As of 2001,
approximately 300
Sumatran rhino were
still alive. Of these
300, 17 are in
captivity.
Why is it that humans
continue to thrive, but so
many animals are
endangered or even
extinct?
Why should we save the
Sumatran Rhinoceros?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
D5L4xo33fko
“Homo sapiens, serial
killer of the biosphere.”
Many species’
extinctions have
been correlated to
the arrival of
human beings.
- How have we
contributed to
this?
• “Can the Sumatran rhino, like the Californian condor
and the Mauritian kestrel, be pulled back from the
grave.”
• Captive breeding and protection
against poaching has been
unsuccessful.
- How can we fix what we have done?
The truth is…
• “Extremely few reverse direction and return to
a safer category.”
• “At least a fifth of plants and animals would be
gone or committed to early extinction by
2030, and half by the end of the century.”
• “So far we have played the role of planetary
killer, concerned only with its own short term
survival.”
We are a young species that is just beginning to thrive and we are
killing species that were here way before we were.
-Is this a part of evolution?
-How can you start contributing to saving these endangered
species?
Works Cited
• Wilson, E.O. “The Planetary Killer.” Human
Experience I: Who am I?. Ed. Alice Burmeister
and Kathy Lyon. 6th ed. Littleton, MA:
Tapestry, 2009. 217-229. print.
• Oritt, Sarah. “The Sumatran Rhino Appeal.”
Online Video. Youtube.com. 26 March 2010.
Web.