The Right Environment

The environment around Zanesville, Ohio is a bit more calm after the tragedy described by renowned zookeeper Jack Hanna as “Noah’s Ark wrecked”.   The owner of an exotic animal farm set all the residents free before taking his own life this week, and plenty of questions remain.   48 animals were shot and buried on the property, including 18 tigers, nine lions, eight lionesses, three mountain lions, six black bears, two grizzly bears and a baboon.    6 others were taken to the Columbus Zoo.

Apparently, this exotic animal farm had not been without controversy.   The owner, Terry Thompson, kept animals for many years, and that his officials had visited his place some 30 or 35 times since 2004 for reports of animal cruelty and other offenses.   Thompson had been convicted of animal cruelty back in 2005.   A law banning the keeping of exotic animals in Ohio had been allowed to expire, and now there is consideration of reinstating it.

I believe the Bible teaches that we have a responsibility to care for his creation.    In Genesis 1, we read:

²⁶ Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all^[b] the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” ²⁷ So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. ²⁸ Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

Dominion does not mean domination, and with the duty of creation care comes responsibility.   The abuse of animals is not within the call to have dominion.   And, in our humane care for animals, it’s important that we maintain for them a proper environment for them to thrive.   And, sometimes that means just leaving them alone in the wild.

These animals in Ohio were not in a proper environment – inside the fences of the property, apparently – and certainly not outside…once they were free, they were a threat to the population around them, and even feeble attempts at sedation were not effective.  

An animal, or human, out of the proper environment, will not survive for very long.   I am thankful that our Creator has made for us on planet Earth a stable and life-giving environment.   For those who believe there is no evidence of design, consider just a few facts:   Earth’s atmosphere has the right mix of oxygen in order to sustain life, and our bodies interact just perfectly with that atmosphere.   Too much oxygen, and we suffocate, too little, and we cannot breathe properly.    Earth is exactly the right distance from the Sun…too far away, or too close, as we see with planets such as Mars or Venus, and our bodies would not survive.    We have been given a wonderful planet, described in a DVD on intelligent design as a “Privleged Planet”, God has placed us in a celestial home that we should never take for granted.