“Must Love”
FULL POEM
Must Love
Must love African Painted Dogs
Lions, Aardvarks and Warthogs
Rhinoceros and Zebras…Pangolins!
And the not-a-cat Meerkats
And while we're at it, the Civet, non-cat
(Pangolins and Civets across Asia too)
All African wildlife, not the least Elephants
Must love Bison, Moose and Pumas
Otters and others - Chipmunks
Black-Footed Ferrets, no Polecat
Not-even-dogs Prairie Dogs
And yes, if you love dogs
Must love Wolves (More to say about that!)
Must love Three Toed Sloths
Jaguars and Caimans, Capybaras
Marmosets and Llamas - Macaws
All The Americas wildlife no less
Must love Sumatran Rhinoceros
Indian Elephants and Leopards
Tigers and Langurs - Red Pandas too
Must love Bornean Orangutans, Sun Bears
Hornbills, not the least Fishing Cats
Never-in-a-hurry Slow Loris'
Only primate with a venomous bite
All Asian wildlife no less
Must love Wombats and Numbats
Billbys, Woylies and Emus
Black Cockatoos, and white - pink Galahs too
Also the Gang Gang gang, red-headed
And the Red Hand Fish, caught red-handed
And the bear that never was - Koala
Quolls, Bettongs and smiling Quokkas
Yes, you - all the Kangaroos and Wallabies
Must love Platypus, egg-layer
But avoid the venomous spur
Which males use to fight
And the other monotreme, prickly character
Must love Echidnas, nicer than their namesake
All Australian wildlife no less
Must love Polar Bears and Walrus
Narwhals and seals, Belugas
Reindeer, Caribou - Arctic Fox
Snowy Owls and Guillemots
All the Arctic animals no less
Must love Elephant and Leopard Seals
Penguins, large and small, up to the Emperor
Lots of Penguins! Eighteen species in all
Skuas - watch out penguin chicks
No terrestrial mammals, ten species of whales
The Antarctic wildlife
All the animals at the Poles no less
Did we miss Lemurs, we will if we did!
Lots of Island-based endemic species
Like Madagascar, biodiversity hot spot
Like the Aldabran of the Seychelles
And Galapagos Giant Tortoises
Marine Igaunas, Komodo Dragons
Most at risk, not unique in that
However unique
No offence to those here missed
There's close to a million at risk
Must love Migratory Birds
Epic annual journeys across the skies
Intercontinental frequent flyers
Whales and dolphins, all cetaceans
Especially Vaquita, Pink and other River Dolphins
Even after they’re gone - please no less!
Must love Dugong and Manatee, all Sirenians
All the wildlife in the air and the seas
Too many to mention, but some we will
Fish, Sharks, assorted Molluscs
Octopus and Squid by name
Sponges, Coral - Jellyfish
How many of that list are endangered!
There are just too many to name
For which you can’t have too much love
Need to go higher order
Species and Families
Higher still, Order and Class
Higher, Genus and Kingdoms
All the Animalia
Even the problem child
Last of the Homo lines
Then to the top
The three Domians
All Life on Earth
Must love them, not to death
Too many already heading there
Love them to life, bring them back in
The how is not hard to find
Others have already unpacked it
The boots already on the ground
Just add water, money has that effect
Keeps the dream alive
The dream of living wildlife
All over Sanctuary Earth
For all time, as jointly inherited
Biodiverse