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| Ernst Haeckel's "Tree of Life." (note the position of MAN) |
That makes a total of 8.7 million species. Of these
8.7 million, it is thought that as many as 86% have not yet been discovered,
let alone described. Yet, that number is only the animal species, a small
fraction of all species.
If plant and microbial species are added into the
count then the total number of species upon the Earth could be one trillion, or
more.
Yet, that one species – Homo sapiens – has come to
domesticate, dominate, or destroy many of the other species that share this
planet with us.
Of all the mammals upon the Earth, we humans account
for 34% of the total biomass. Mammals domesticated by us make up 62% of the
total biomass. That means that just 4% of the Earth’s total mammalian biomass
is made up of wild mammals.1
Just 4%! The biomass of wild land mammals has declined
by an estimated 85% since humans emerged onto the planet. 85%! The numbers are
staggering.
Humanity has also domesticated chickens, which are not
mammals. What about them? Well, that is a sordid tale as well. Domesticated chickens
make up 71% of the total bird mass on the planet.
What of the number of species we have destroyed?
It is estimated that the average length of time for a
species to exist on the Earth, before becoming extinct, is between one and ten
million years, with most going extinct at the lower end of this range. The
extinction rate, since the arrival of humans, is assessed as being between 100
and 1,000 times the natural background extinction rate. Another staggering
number.
All the numbers and figures cited above are because of
that one extra species added to the 8,699,999 total for all animal species.
Just one! Yet another staggering number.
How did, and why should, one species, amongst 8.7
million animal species, come to domesticate, dominate, and destroy so many
creatures?
Within western cultures the origin can perhaps be
traced back to its genesis. Yes – Genesis. The first book of the Bible. Whether
a person today, living a westernized lifestyle, is a religious follower of the
Bible is immaterial. Western culture has its roots firmly embedded within
Judeo-Christian belief systems.
Genesis 1, verses 26-28 twice repeats the phrase that
humans are to ‘have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the
air…and over every living thing that moves on the earth.’2 This
word dominion has for some two and a half thousand years often been
interpreted as meaning mankind has the right to subdue, control, and exploit
the creatures of the earth.
Over the past couple of centuries this interpretation
has come under scrutiny, with many Biblical scholars and linguists advising
that the original Hebrew words limited the interpretation to meaning a
stewardship or governance.
Notwithstanding the debates within Biblical
scholarship, the right of dominance is the one that has firmly entrenched
itself within western worldviews. By extension, this right of dominance and
control led those worldviews to a belief in human exceptionalism – the belief
that humans are different from, and superior to, other forms of life.
This Biblically mandated role for humankind remained a
foundation of the human journey for many centuries. It was not until the middle
of the 19th century that the Biblical position on the place of
humans was challenged. Darwin’s On The Origin Of Species, published in
1859, introduced humans to the Theory of Evolution. But even this theory did
not dislodge the belief in human exceptionalism. If anything, it gave it
pseudo-scientific credibility.
The German naturalist, Ernst Haeckel, was fascinated
by Darwin’s ideas and actively promoted them. In doing so, Haeckel depicted
evolution as a tree with man (sic) placed at the apex of the tree, insinuating that
humanity was the inevitable and only possible outcome for evolution (see
graphic). This depiction still has favour today. Human exceptionalism remains
embedded within our westernized worldview.
With two
such powerful influences upon westernised worldviews – the Biblical one and the
evolutionary tree one – it is little wonder that the 8.7 million species upon
the Earth have become domesticated, dominated, and destroyed by just one
species – us.
A final
comment should be made about this one species. Yes, we are one species amongst
8.7 million, but we don’t all share the same worldviews. The worldviews
summarised above have been developed over millennia within western cultures. They
are not shared by many indigenous and nature-based cultures. However, the
process of colonisation, beginning in the late 15th century, has all
but eradicated any other worldview.
Human
exceptionalism remains a dominant view throughout the world.
8,699,999
creatures continue to suffer because of this view.
Notes:
1. All data from https://ourworldindata.org/wild-mammals-birds-biomass accessed 18 November 2025
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