WILDLIFE IN AMERICAN CULTURE

The general point made by Aldo Leopold in his work Wildlife in American Culture is that Americans have not realized the importance of wildlife and nature. More specifically, Leopold suggests that we are forgetting that wildlife is the main thing that keeps us alive and we are destroying it. He writes; “there is too much unnecessary destruction of resources …we shall achieve conservation when and only when the destructive use of land becomes unethical.”(pg 372) In this passage Leopold is suggesting that humans are destroying nature and wildlife to the point where it’s ridiculously unnecessary. He also states that we don’t know when to stop. In conclusion, it is Leopold’s belief humans are destroying nature and it needs to stop.

In my view, Leopold is wrong because we do care about wildlife. Leopold lived more than 50 years ago, people back then did not care about wildlife as much as we do now. No one deliberately goes outside with the motive to ruin the earth and kill animals. For example, there are many rules and restriction on hunting these days. There are many endangered species and our country has made it illegal to hunt them. Also there are only certain times a year that you may go hunting. Although Leopold might object that “the sportsman has no leaders to tell him what is wrong.(pg 374)I maintain that our society knows what is wrong, that is why we have so many limitations when it comes to hunting and wildlife. Therefore, I conclude that we are taking care of the wildlife on our planet, and that we are more cautious about our actions.