The new regime’s latest attack on what it calls “anti-American ideology” now involves the Smithsonian, which includes the original museum, as well as Air and Space, the American Indian (from Alaska to Fuego at the tip of South America), Natural History, Art (2), and African-American history. And the National Zoo. The zoo? Seriously?
Well, consider this: As Dana Milbank of the Washington Post points out, the zoo’s website notes, there are more than 2,200 “residents” from 400 species, including the Andean bear (Venezuela), and others that could be rounded up by masked agents and sent to a Salvadoran prison. And the bear is just the beginning.
Hundreds of predators from other countries are fed and coddled at taxpayer expense. They represent biodiversity, a term disfavored, even hated, by the new regime. What to do with all these animals, not to mention their keepers? You can’t make this stuff up.
Prayer for the Day
Awe-inspiring God, we join with all creation to sing of your glory,
But sometimes we become despairing of the evil we see around us;
Reveal your light through the faces of others, many we do not know,
And enable us to find your grace where we least expect it.
Hold us in your heart as we seek to be your instruments,
Sharing your realm of justice and peace with all creation.
In the name of the One who brings us your vision of righteousness,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
Zoos provide knowledge on animal conservation, care, and confinement by conducting research and developing methodologies in wildlife biology, animal behavior, health, and welfare. They also promote educational and research initiatives in collaboration with scientists interested in animal conservation and preservation and ecological diversity.
Naz Fatima, from Markhor (J. Zoology)
The Smithsonian's National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute (NZCBI) plays a leading role in global efforts to save wildlife species from extinction and train future generations of conservationists.
From the National Zoo’s website
And God said: “Let the earth bring forth living creatures of every kind: cattle and creeping things, and wild animals of the earth of every kind.” And it was so. God made the wild animals of the earth of very kind, and the cattle of every kind, and everything that creeps upon the ground of every kind. And God saw that it was good.
Genesis 1: 24-25