Animal Displacement!

By: Mohamed Ahmed Al-Feelabi
(Environmental Affairs Specialist)

The migration of animals and birds is natural, but their displacement by humans constitutes an encroachment on ecosystems.
Bird and animal migration is the regular movement of species from one region to another, usually linked to changing environmental conditions or resource availability.
Experts emphasize that this phenomenon plays a vital role in maintaining ecological balance, particularly in determining reproductive patterns and associated behaviors in many animal species.
Humans play a negative role in the displacement and transfer of animals and birds from their habitats in pursuit of material, social, or political gains.
There was a phenomenon known as “giraffe diplomacy,” as expert Heather Sharkey of the University of Pennsylvania noted about the story of Muhammad Ali Pasha, the ruler of Egypt and Sudan, gifting a Sudanese giraffe to King Charles X of France, as well as two other giraffes to two other European kings in 1827.
In 1860, a Sudanese elephant was captured after its mother was killed. It was transported and sold to a famous zoo in Paris. It was then transferred to London, where it was exhibited in circuses and other entertainment venues, where people became attached to it.
It became so popular among young princes that Parliament tried to intervene against its sale to an American circus owner.
However, the court ruled the sale legal, and “Jumbo,” the first to bear this name, was deported to New York, where it aroused admiration when it was exhibited in Brooklyn Botanic Gardens. It became a giant elephant, and its name became a symbol of all things gigantic. Over time, the name “Jumbo” became an integral part of the English language, and his death was described as “noble.”
He was trampled to death while trying to save a young elephant from the circus owner’s herd.
The young elephant survived, but Jumbo died. His body was embalmed and donated to Tufts University in 1885. He then spent 86 years standing upright on all fours in Barnum Hall (the circus owner’s) at the university, of which he was a patron. Students blessed him before exams as a good omen, and visitors gazed at him in awe and wonder.
In 1975, Barnum Hall burned down completely as a result of an electrical short circuit. All that remained of Jumbo were his story, his name, and a few ashes, which remain in a peanut butter jar in the office of the university’s athletics director to this day.
Despite strict environmental laws, animal trafficking continues.
The Jerusalem Post reported that recent months have witnessed increased smuggling of wild animals into the occupied Palestinian territories, including rare species such as lions and monkeys, which have been sold in illegal markets or private zoos. Will African animals be among them? And what will their fate be?