![On the back of a Dragonfly [B&W]](http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6194/6128449851_14ec409b56_s.jpg "On the back of a Dragonfly [B&W]")
The Czech Republic recently sent four of the eight last surviving Northern White Rhinos back to a preserve in Kenya in a desperate attempt to have them breed and stave off extinction. They have not bred in captivity.
Why do we care?
These animals are part of the beauty and diversity of life, the heritage that we have inherited and are responsible to maintain. Saving large animals means saving habitat, which happens to be the same natural system that cleans our air and water. Of course, at eight, and a split population, with the four in question showing a disinterest in reproducing, the animal is functionally extinct anyway. The Mexican Wolf was saved from seven, but there was a concerted effort to rebuild the population led by the US Fish and Wildlife Service. Now we have almost 400.
The National Geographic article mentions two animals in the USA, living in captivity at the San Diego Zoo.
Like the cases of expropriation of antiquities by the developed world, the removal of animals to zoos is a form of theft, and they should be returned.
My head keeps returning to the question of why we should care about the disappearance of another funny looking animal from the planet. What difference does it make to the average soccer mom driving an SUV.
I guess none….
Photographer J Henry Fair is best known for his Industrial Scars series, in which he researches our world’s most egregious environmental disasters and creates images that are simultaneously stunning and horrifying. His photographs captivate audiences, as they more
...Photographer J Henry Fair is best known for his Industrial Scars series, in which he researches our world’s most egregious environmental disasters and creates images that are simultaneously stunning and horrifying. His photographs captivate audiences, as they more closely resemble abstract paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe and Jackson Pollock than the disturbing scenes of actual reality that they depict. Mr. Fair’s work has been featured in segments on The TODAY Show, CNN, FOX News, and WDR German TV, as well as in most major publications, including National Geographic, TIME, New York Magazine, Harper’s Magazine, and GQ. Additionally, Mr. Fair’s work travels around the world in fine art exhibitions at major museums, galleries, and educational institutions.
Mr. Fair has an active lecture schedule, presenting photographic symposia to audiences in the US and abroad. Recent engagements include The Collegiate School, Bloomberg, Die Spedition, and Green Mountain College, where Mr. Fair will return this fall for an artist-in-residency. He gives readers a first-hand look inside the important issues he studies, writing and blogging about art and the environment, and is a regular contributor to the Huffington Post.
J Henry Fair supports a number of environmental organizations that share his commitment to changing destructive consumer habits and effecting positive change in our environment. He is co-founder of the Wolf Conservation Center in South Salem, NY, an organization that is dedicated to the protection of and education about the world’s wolf population.
Mr. Fair’s first book, The Day After Tomorrow: Images of Our Earth in Crisis will be released Fall, 2010, published by powerHouse Books in cooperation with Random House. His work is represented exclusively in New York City and Santa Fe by Gerald Peters Gallery.
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