While the pandemic rages, humans are getting a taste of what it means to be in a “zoo,” as they cope with lockdown and how it feels to be “penned up.” But for many animals across the world, the pandemic has been a blessing, allowing them to venture freely crossing barriers that were once verboten as demonstrated in this video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ysGGIxxrwuk
But freedom comes at a price. As animals trespass into human territory, their presence isn’t always welcome; on the contrary, they are seen as nuisances or, in extreme cases, pests that must be eradicated. Wild birds are especially at risk, including those that are highly intelligent and have managed to thrive among humans like the species Corvus corax, commonly known as the Raven.
Unfortunately, I witnessed the death of a raven poisoned by a cruel tenant in my apartment building last February. As ravens began to enter our neighborhood in larger numbers, the tenant became annoyed with their presence, sometimes throwing rocks at the birds to drive them away. Could it be the ravens had become a scapegoat for her incarceration? Then one morning, she vented her wrath in one fell swoop leaving behind a dead raven in its wake. I gathered the poor creature in my arms, its body still warm despite the winter chill, and laid it to rest in a nearby forest.
Killing ravens is not uncommon here in Switzerland. Farmers shoot ravens regularly when they attack their crops while foraging for food. For the past fifty years in the canton of Thurgau, ravens carried a price on their heads, a mere two francs for one dead bird. In 2018, the practice of killing ravens for money was finally abandoned. Apparently, the program to reduce their population was deemed “unviable.” Now that the use of pesticides and global warming has severely diminished the insect population across Europe, it stands to reason, many species of birds are nearing starvation.
Because I am an animal activist, I intervened and was able to prevent any further poisonings and abuse of the birds by this vicious tenant. But as the pandemic continues, and the distance between humans and animals narrows, we can expect more acts of abuse against animals, which like the pandemic, is not only tragic but also deadly.
Every creature is better alive than dead, men and moose and pine trees, and he who understands it aright will rather preserve its life than destroy it. ~Henry David Thoreau
And worthy of contemplation when encountering the remarkable Raven.