Our
National Parks,
Vital
sanctuaries
For
our precious fellow-creatures,
And
reflective of our deep concern
For
their present and future well-being.
With
Nature's values paramount
In
their personal philosophy
People
in the past have fought
For
Park declarations.
Ridicule
and indifference have not deterred them.
But
now, a government,
With
deplorable lack of ethics
Has decreed that "blood" sport
Is
quite acceptable, even desirable,
In
these havens of safety.
Recreational
shooters will be
Killing
With
the primary aim of pleasure,
A
goal far different from that professed
Of
feral eradication.
And
if a native creature
Even
an endangered species
Is
killed
A
shooter's voice may say
"Oh,
dear! I made a mistake."
And
what of the professional people,
The
Rangers, the guardians of the National Parks,
Their
crucial work of caring
Will
be undermined
By
recreational blood "sport".
Is
this a starting point ?
A
launching pad
For
further intrusions –
Logging,
grazing, mining …
In
our priceless National Parks.
The
message is crystal clear.
This
"deal" is very wrong.
It
must be obliterated
And
our National Parks as true sanctuaries
Restored.
-Stan
Mussared
