"Man is the worst of the animals"? As a 33 year vegatarian (and one who believes that if any human has a soul, then animals do, too) I find that more than a bit odd and dripping with self loathing. We live surrounded by 15 acres of treed ravine with a stream. We have deer, possums, raccoons, groundhogs, foxes, rabbits, three species of squirrel, owls, hawks, crows, woodpeckers, and even a coyote, although we've never seen him. Neighbor got 'em on video in their backyard 1/2 block from us. We throw all our old food out the back door and watch everyone jockey for position.
We've seen mother groundhogs knock their own cubs down trying to get to a piece of bread. Have seen crows tormenting one of their own into terrified submission. Have seen hawks and owls rip baby rabbits apart and leave only the tails and feet. Have seen various birds attack squirrels (who are vegetarian!?!)and small red squirrels viciously attack the bigger gray and black ones. All in the pursuit of resources.
A baby raccoon got separated from his family and stuck in the middle of busy road not far from us about a month ago. He was crying pitifully and you know who came to his rescue? Not a rabbit...not a deer...not a hawk. It was two men and one woman from two different cars. They stopped traffic which was about 25-30 cars in both directions of the two lane road. Finally they had the baby safely to the side and the stopped drivers could go. My wife and I heard two passersby yell, "God bless you!"
My aunt, age 80, took in an abondoned kitten (abandoned by the mother cat who had three and then 2 weeks later left one behind). She nursed the kitten and found it a good home. About that time the mother came back with two 2 month old kits. My aunt found homes for both and the mother now lives indoors - safe, sound, and well fed, with Auntie Chris.
Once human needs are easily taken care of (like us rich Americans) we do pretty good. Poor people in this country suffer most from over eating and almost all have TVs, VCRs, and cars.
Oh, and Avguy, we "un-brainwashed" the Nazis and imperialist Japanese, didn't we? It would be hard today to enjoy fine Japanese cuisine and audio arts if they were still in China, the Philipines, etc, butchering millions.