John Burnside Quotes

For sure, all over Poland, kids had my picture of a lemur on their bedroom wall - but the chances are they may never get to see a real lemur in Madagascar. I thought this was great and it really meant a lot to me.

My belief is that what comes across on the television is a capture of my enthusiasm and my passion for wildlife.

Living wild species are like a library of books still unread. Our heedless destruction of them is akin to burning the library without ever having read its books.

In my life, I have dreamt of seeing the great herds of wild animals, jungles and rainforests full of birds and butterflies, but now I wonder if they will even exist for my children to see.

Shelters, conservationists, those concerned about unnecessary cruelty toward the animals we eat, and people working against species extinction fight to preserve the true riches of our planet, our real inheritance. These are big, critical goals.

When it comes to wilderness animals we have to make an effort to preserve what areas we can that they can be themselves in. Its come to a point though, clearly, where some species have to be cared for by humans if they are not going to disappear altogether.

People get very passionate about saving the whale, but when something like a Florida indigo snake is endangered there are not a lot of people out there holding up placards.

We have more endangered species here in our islands than any other state in the country.

Humans regard animals as worthy of protection only when they are on the verge of extinction.

The protection of biodiversity and, therefore, of endangered species is an issue to which I attach a great deal of importance.

It does seem like, in the world today, we've moved further and further away from wildlife. There's that sense of whatever you're scared of, you just want it to go away. Here in Australia Zoo, part of our ongoing plan is that re-connection.

I saw a cardinal when I was in Brooklyn, and I was almost moved to tears. I was, like, 'I can't believe this thing is legal. I can't believe this thing is in the wild. How did this happen? How has someone not killed them all? They're so conspicuous. They're gorgeous. How can they still be alive?'

Steve was so wonderful to bring wildlife into our living rooms and let us see that animals we used to be afraid of are so important.

It takes a true encounter to realise that real animals, wild animals, have all but passed from our lives.

Protecting eagles from the threat of extinction is a conservation success story that we must prudently safeguard for future generations to come.

With Dad, he was the ultimate wildlife warrior, and we admired him more than anything.

Biological diversity is messy. It walks, it crawls, it swims, it swoops, it buzzes. But extinction is silent, and it has no voice other than our own.

The only good place for a sage grouse to be listed is on the menu of a French bistro. It does not deserve federal protection, period.

It's a great event to get outside and enjoy nature. I find it very exciting no matter how many times I see bald eagles.

Most Africans don't get to see these wild animals at all. Once they see and learn about them, they are much more likely to become involved in protecting the environment.

Gorillas are in danger of being wiped out by the Ebola virus. I feel like we have limited time to get to know them and understand them and they're going to disappear - that's terrifically sad. Wouldn't it be great if we could stop that?

Take the crocodile, for example, my favorite animal. There are 23 species. Seventeen of those species are rare or endangered. They're on the way out, no matter what anyone does or says, you know.

The Endangered Species Act is the strongest and most effective tool we have to repair the environmental harm that is causing a species to decline.

The question is, are we happy to suppose that our grandchildren may never be able to see an elephant except in a picture book?

We are already perilously close to killing off the top of the oceanic food chain - with catastrophic consequences that we can't begin to imagine. Let us not, in the heat of anger, reduce the already devastated population of great white sharks by one more member.