"...extinction had claimed some splendid creatures, mammoth, saber-tooth, great-antlered Irish elk; and it seemed to Nicol that eagles or tigers, existing on narrow ranges under strict protection, were not what their natures meant them to be." (p. 52)
Sure. If we had resources enough, then we could populate a terrestroid planet with birds of prey and wild animals. But protecting them is better than letting them become extinct and every species eventually ceases to exist in one way or another in any case. Individual eagles or tigers do not instantiate Platonic Ideas of eaglehood or tigerhood. Their natures are temporary and changing but scientists can observe and record. Nothing is meant to be but it is for a while.
2 comments:
Most of the agricultural world has been 'preserving' game for a long, long time.
Kaor, Paul!
Beside what Stirling said, I rather hope it might someday be possible to bring back woolly mammoths.
Ad astra! Sean
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