Posted by kat on April 20, 2002 at 09:24:39:
In Reply to: see post below on unnamed bird posted by john on April 18, 2002 at 11:19:18:
Thank you!
Hmm- So how long does it take to consider a domestic cat an officail part of the ecosystem?
Currently the only way is for it to have been a part of the ecosystem before human record, or to have migrated there with no help from humans (e.g. armadillos). Personally, i think this definition needs revision, but then I'm not exactly a prominant authority in the field. My problems are that it assumes that humans are not natural factors, and second, eventually we'll HAVE to redefine it because we keep better records than they did long ago.
Then humans are not natural factors anywhere? If so that doesn't make sense. Aren't we classified as animals, and if so then we are part of the ecosystem, natural or otherwise, for better or worse, right? And cats, well even if they are domestic, if they are out there hunting and killing, are part of the system.
Here's another question for ya. I realize that humans destroy the natural habitat of some creatures, but in some cases isn't extinction just a 'natural' part of the whole circle of life?
(I put natural in quotes because I think the natural world is not as God intended it to be)