Human beings should learn how to live harmoniously with nature's creatures, said an article in People's Daily. An excerpt follows:

Before SARS broke out last spring, civet cats were served up as a dish for human beings. Now this animal faces an even more miserable fate.

Recently, authorities in the southern province of Guangdong ordered the slaughter of all civet cats in the province to avert another outbreak of the disease, since the latest research results show the viral genetic sequence from the recent SARS patient in the southern province is very similar to that of the weasel-like mammal.

And there are other wild animals that might carry the SARS virus that are on the list for slaughter.

But is killing a good way to save human beings from the virus"

Human beings must learn to live together with other natural species, whether they like it or not.

If people want to have a healthy relationship with nature, they must let other species live and procreate as nature intends. Human beings and other species must preserve a symbiotic relationship. Extinction of other species may ultimately have a negative influence on human life.

We should think about why it is that more and more people are getting infected with viruses from animals.

The reason might be that human beings use nature to serve their own ends, always trying to conquer and use nature, not co-exist with it, which results in deterioration of the environment.

Killing civet cats can be no more than a temporary solution. We should instead be seeking ways to live harmoniously with nature.

(China Daily January 10, 2004)