Letters

Saving the Big Cats

"Until we are able to control human overpopulation, any species that competes with Homo sapiens for space and food is doomed."
KARLA KELLENBERGER
Stow, Ohio

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I applaud time for its cover story [Aug. 23] on the vulnerable status of big cats (lions, tigers, snow leopards, cheetahs and others)--surely one of the saddest legacies of today's world. Human overpopulation, hunting, poverty and ignorance — along with the horrendous practice of buying and selling animal parts — have proved to be obstacles too tough to overcome, even for creatures as magnificent as the big cats you pictured. Every solution mentioned by the scientists and conservationists is worth trying. We owe these animals our best efforts.
GILLIAN BEACH CIERI
West Palm Beach, Fla.

I fear that humankind's plundering of the habitat of these majestic animals and misguided attitudes toward them will be their downfall. I respect the right of ranchers to protect their herds from predators, but a global realization of the threat of extinction should motivate us to protect the big cats and allow for their survival.
BRETT I. GINGOLD
Bend, Ore.

Big cats are only doing what humans do: they are predators, and so are we.
IRVING STANTON ELMAN
Pacific Palisades, Calif.

You provided a great overview of the problems facing all big-cat populations. If we can protect the megafauna, we can also protect whole ecosystems. And if we can't, then what about our future?
LINDA REIFSCHNEIDER
St. Louis, Mo.

It must be a great consolation to the family of the victim killed by a mountain lion in California to know that the death was simply a result of "being in the wrong place at the wrong time." Best of all, by being some cat's dinner, the victim contributed to its survival. Any man-eating animal is our natural enemy. Are we willing to sacrifice human lives to prevent their extinction?
RICHARD PACKHAM
Roseburg, Ore.

Your report suggested that trophy hunting of lions and tigers might be an approach to conserving these species. The dwindling populations of big cats won't be saved by allowing trophy hunters to kill the animals. Trophy hunting not only removes the biggest and most genetically fit animals but also helps create markets for big-cat parts — undermining the long-term conservation of increasingly isolated populations. Conserving big cats is a culturally and socially complex issue but not so complicated that the direct killing of the fittest animals can turn out to be helpful.
WAYNE PACELLE, PRESIDENT
HUMANE SOCIETY OF THE U.S.
Washington

Save the big cats! finally, a cover story to be enthusiastic about. A trek into the savanna — a land unpopulated by those other man eaters, Bush and bin Laden. What I would give for this vacation to never end!
LEIF JOHNSON
Orinda, Calif.

Border Business

Your article about smuggling marijuana from Canada into the U.S. [Aug. 23] did not fairly describe how diligently Canada addresses the problems of illicit drugs. We take the issue of drug trafficking in both directions across our shared border very seriously. The cooperation between our governments and law-enforcement agencies is a model for the international community. In recent months, binational law-enforcement teams have successfully dismantled numerous criminal drug networks. The increase in marijuana seizures reflects greater law enforcement along the border. Still, only 2% of the total marijuana that the U.S. seizes at all its borders is produced in Canada, which has the same objectives as the U.S.: to reduce the supply and consumption of illicit drugs and the harm they cause society.
BERNARD ETZINGER, SPOKESPERSON
CANADIAN EMBASSY Washington