s a small boy I was already a collector of 'nature'. The great outdoors were wonderful. I simply could not stop exploring the fauna, either by watching or reading. It didn't matter what kind of nature I could explore. Roaming the Dutch polders nearby with its cows, or dreaming of exotic places. I filled many a scrapbook with clippings about dangerous large predators in the jungle. And books about amazing nature in faraway countries? I devoured them. So it was no wonder that I wanted to study biology. That has never happened though. Nevertheless, I did - and still do - visit the exotic places with nature I became so familiar with via my books, with great pleasure. But this doesn't seem to be an infinite opportunity.
I am quite negative about the infinity of nature as a 'life-support system' for man. There will soon be no nature left anymore, the way mankind exploits nature. The motto seems to be: consume till you drop! We have seen plant and animal species becoming extinct at an alarming rate in recent years. Although extinction of species exists since there is life on earth, the rate now is higher than ever.
It is incomprehensible that it came this far, this deplorable state of nature. Nature seems at a collision course, caused by Homo sapiens. We speak of ecosystem services, but this doesn't mean flora and fauna just have to serve humanity and get nothing in return. Of course, there are people who feel quilty and attempt to save the world. I support them wholeheartedly. Yet, I fear that the point of no return has been passed.
Unfortunately, the consumption of the world population is still increasing. We deplete our source, Mother Nature, and while doing so we threaten ourselves with extinction. In the competition for our changing habitat we will lose the fight with much more dynamic populations like micro-organisms. We discovered antibiotics, but the micro-organism invented antimicrobial resistance. And it seems that they hold out longest. The world will not perish, but in the future there will be no place for us. Unless .......?
These gloomy thoughts motivated me to enjoy the existing remnants of nature even more. And pick up where I left a long time ago: collecting 'nature', in word and image, but this time in an electronic scrapbook. So, I launched my first website (MoosMood.com), where I addressed the sources which inspired me most. After some years of 'collecting' I learned to appreciate the world of zoos more and more. This appreciation and the acquired information comes together in this website dedicated to zoos, nature conservation and more.
