A lot of African wildlife is very big. If you're protecting the big stuff, you're usually protecting the small stuff, too. Patrick Bergin More Quotes by Patrick Bergin More Quotes From Patrick Bergin These magnificent species of Africa - elephants, rhino, lions, leopards, cheetah, the great apes (Africa has four of the world's five great apes) - this is a treasure for all humanity, and they are not for sale. They are not for trade. They need to be valued and preserved by humanity. We all need a global commitment to that. Patrick Bergin rhinos elephants commitment We did a campaign here with New York Times. We had a great ad: "Today in America, someone will kill an elephant for a bracelet." We became sensitized in our society. Now there are four or five billion people in Asia who need to get this message. We need to use social media, print magazines, celebrities - anything we can to share this message. It's not cool, it's not okay. You are destroying beautiful animals. You are robbing a continent of its wealth. And you are hurting a lot of innocent people. Patrick Bergin hurt new-york beautiful In most of the world, we have only small remnants of the wildlife that once existed. Africa has the most astonishing wildlife still. Patrick Bergin remnants wildlife world There's no space for wildlife; the humans are crowding them out. Patrick Bergin wildlife space humans In the West, we got the message that it's not cool to wear ivory. It's not cool to utilize products from these wonderful species. They are not commodities. We need the whole world to join hands in getting this message now, particularly countries in Asia and certain communities that have not been educated about this. They have not had the campaigns that we had. Patrick Bergin ivory country hands With good planning, Africa can have cities, farms, factories, export processing zones. But if the political will is there, the huge areas - the Serengeti, the Okavango, the Kalahari, Kruger - these wonderful, huge places for wildlife could still be set aside and protected, and be treasures for humanity for many generations to come. Patrick Bergin political-will cities humanity There's a place in Botswana where there are 100,000 elephants living in a single population. Think of the amount of space they need. Remember, the United States would fit in Africa three times over and there would still be space. That's how big Africa is. Patrick Bergin elephants space thinking A lot of African wildlife is very big. If you're protecting the big stuff, you're usually protecting the small stuff, too. One of the main things we advocate for is for countries to set aside, even if it's fewer places, really big places, so that you can have viable populations. Patrick Bergin population stuff country Helping Africans navigate the transition to modernity with a huge, wonderful wildlife resource still intact. Patrick Bergin wildlife transition helping In most of the world, we have only small remnants of the wildlife that once existed. Africa has the most astonishing wildlife still. Now Africa is modernizing. In the next twenty years, Africa is modernizing economically, and one of two things is going to happen. Either Africa will be just like the rest of the world and it's say goodbye to wildlife. Or, we can learn from the mistakes made in the rest of the world. Patrick Bergin mistake goodbye two When economic modernizations come in, say goodbye to wildlife. Patrick Bergin wildlife economic goodbye
