Imagine concrete cities surrounded by overgrown plants with sea and lakes covered in algae. The silence is only interrupted by the sound of robots or machines trying to keep the green jungle at bay. Not only would a world without animals be desolate and wretched but our food source would be severely impacted. The question of why we need animals is more relevant than ever these days.
Healthy Ecosystem
Even if you’re not an adoring animal lover, you need their support to survive. We’ve all now heard of the crisis with bees but did you know that beavers play an important role in reducing flooding thanks to their dams? Birds also play a huge impact by killing pests and helping fertilise soil. Furthermore, squirrels help trees find their roots, as nicely explained in this article on unsung heroes.
The question of why we need animals is embedded in the fact that we live in a system. Systems thinking is easy to forget because our minds prefer taking shortcuts to interpret the world. Everything is interconnected and linked as we’ve learnt through our dire impact on climate change. We’re actually constantly surrounded by feedback loops including in our own bodies when we’re hungry, cold or even nervous and scared. You then adjust something in response with the goal to get back to a balanced state.
Whether we fully understand it or not, the more we remove active members of the world’s ecosystem through extinction, the bigger the impact on the rest of the living organisms living here. Instead, it’s worth looking at how to develop systems thinking so you can appreciate that every action and decision has multiple effects.
- Draw a loop a day – take a theme, any theme, such as the human body, traffic or the life of salmon and practice drawing the interrelations and feedback loops.
- Imagine longer time frames – try imagining things 10 or 20 years into the future and how different things will impact how they change.
- Look for patterns of interrelationships – how are different people, offices, animals, cultures, parts of society, etc, around you connecting and impacting each other?
Wellbeing
As the French poet, Anatole France, famously said regarding the love of an animal:
“Until One Has Loved An Animal, A Part Of One’s Soul Remains Unawakened.”
Many studies show us why we need animals when it comes to our own wellbeing. Having pets has been shown to reduce stress-induced cortisol and lower blood pressure. You also get a rush of oxytocin when stroking an animal which is one of our happy brain chemicals.
Taking care of another being is an integral aspect of positive psychology. Caregiving, whether to a human or an animal, allows us to step out of worries and neuroses such that we can see the bigger picture more easily.
Anyone who takes care of animals can tell you that they give you a range of emotions in return for yours. Sadly, we don’t always understand them but the sheer closeness and connection grows to love and we all need love and connection in life to be happy.
Life Lessons
Have you ever watched a dog pottering around outside? They’re just smelling, listening and seeing. They’re completely in the present moment without worrying about the future or the past because they’re focused on their senses. On the other hand, humans tend to spend too much time in their minds. The more we can step out of our minds and use our senses, the more we’ll appreciate life as it is rather than as we wish it to be. A dog constantly reminds you of this simply by being there.
Why we need animals is also because they teach us to be better humans. Elephants, dolphins and many others have a strong sense of community and will diplomatically avoid violence. Of course, animals aren’t perfect and have their flaws just like us but they accept them and each other. They’ll have territorial quarrels but these subside quickly as they seek balance with nature.
You too can find more balance with nature and animals:
- Natural environment – even if you live in a city, can you get some plants in your home or even pictures of natural and animal scenes on the walls?
- Notice and accept change – nature is both a healer and a teacher. She’s constantly changing and nothing stays the same. Forest bathing can lift your spirits as can appreciating that change is constant and there’s little point worrying about what we can’t control. We can only control our actions.
Why We Need Animals and How to Support Them
We are part of nature’s ecosystem whether we like it or not. No amount of civilisation can ever change that. The more we can practice being aware of the system we live in and how everything has multiple effects around us, the easier it will be to appreciate how animals and humans are equally important in this world.
Whether you choose to develop your systems thinking or surround yourselves with plants and animals, we can all do our tiny little bit to support each other, including animals. With time, you’ll realise how everything changes and evolves within a dynamic system. Nevertheless, we can find happiness from each other through acceptance and connection. Harmony is possible but it starts with baby steps.
