#fromwhereisit, delayed at the airport awaiting transport to a far away place, I look around bemused. I’m already in a complex and exotic environment (I just wrote that with my best David Attenborough accent).
I literally feel like I’m in a jungle. A complex ecosystem of creatures abiotically interacting with their surrounds. There is every level of the food chain here, from the hard working producers to the highest order consumers.
There are so many species to observe, many nervous to be out of their natural habitat, but not without their characteristic traits emerging in this new community.
In particular my attention is drawn to the congress of baboons. These primates seem to proffer their lack of intelligence in the loudest, most obnoxious and aggressive manner possible, truly believing they are the biggest predator in this pecking order. My bemusement dwindles as I realise my family of regular homo sapiens will be sharing the big, metal flying cage with them for the next 6 hours!
They have little respect for other animals in this kingdom. No thought for the sensitive ears of little offspring, with their swearing and guffawing. No thought for the wise and frail who have overcome a lifetime of parasites and deserve respect. No thought for the less nocturnal creatures, trapped in this ecosystem with them, who just want to burrow into sleep!
As frustrating as the holiday hunting habits of these predators were, I gain plenty of enjoyment from the biodiversity of species in this airport ecosystem. Without the baboons, we would all suffer. There would be less lessons in tolerance and fewer attempts at symbiotic relationships.
Xk
