We must protect and repair our environment at this time

One of the most beautiful poems of the Covid-19 era starts with the words “we fell asleep in one world and woke up in another.” In the face of this dreaded bug, we must face the fact that human beings are not really that powerful against other living species, water, the earth and the sky. Scientists argue that 70 per cent of the pathogens in infectious human diseases like Covid-19, Ebola and SARS leapt from wildlife microbes to humans. We must accept the inescapable conclusion that our very existence as human beings depends on how we treat animals in our homesteads and the savannahs going forward.

If animal and human interaction may have been at the source of this pandemic, how is wildlife doing during this time? Actually, quite well. Greatly reduced air and land travel has dramatically cut carbon emissions. The earth has had a chance to breathe, the air and rivers are cleaner. For the lions, leopards and cheetahs, there has been a two-week window of relief from over eager tourists in noisy vans and clicking cameras. The silence is also ominous.