Good news!!

There are fewer species to go extinct than ever before. It's quite upsetting when an animal becomes endangered, which then of course induces anxiety as to whether or not it will make a recovery, languish in near-annihilation or get wiped out entirely.

As a relentless optimist, I advocate the following position: the more animals we kill, the fewer there are to be killed off. People will get in the way of extinction from time to time, of course, but that should only be a temporary block. Let us embrace extinction, so that we may one day no longer have to worry about the negative emotional consequences that come with its advent.

Take lions, for example:

Just 50 years ago there were close to a half-million lions in Africa -- about 450,000 in all. Today there are between 16,000 and 23,000. And yet, unlike elephants (a far more numerous species), lions have no protection under the international accord governing such matters.

Yes, that's the way! None of that red tape protection nonsense to impede us.

It's not just the exceptionally brave big game hunters working towards this goal, but also those daring enough to fool the animals into eating poison:

Extinction threatens by the year 2020. Then there will be no lions to hunt, or to protect.

Meanwhile another ominous development poses a further threat to wildlife. A pesticide is being used by poachers to kill lions and many other animals. Sprinkled on meat, it kills lions, hyenas, vultures and other creatures in minutes.

Hopefully, we can get this over in ten years as promised and say goodbye to the worry and handwringing that so unfortunately plagues us.