Better Living through Technology

(Published November 1989 in The Pelican, the Florida State Sierra Club newspaper; written in response to the extermination of turkey vultures by Walt Disney World at Discovery Island)

It all began with the death of the last dusky seaside sparrow. The Imagineers realized that what was lost could be recreated.

Did the Hall of Presidents not bring to life the wisdom and counsel of America’s greatest leaders? Did the Country Bear Jamboree not create such life—like animals that even adults forget they are machines?

The Tiki Bird Show is yesterday’s technology,
but Discovery Island will be the prototype for
zoological parks of tomorrow. Here we can construct
animals, with such authentic detail, no one will be able to tell them from the real thing. Imagine a menagerie where we maintain total control. The animals perform on cue, require no feeding and never defecate on the sidewalk.

Florida’s landscape has been transformed in recent years from a mosquito infested swamp to giant sprawling cities, with beautifully manicured suburbs. The population, a paltry 2 ½ million in 1950, is now projected to reach 15 million by the year 2000. Super highways crisscross the State like a shrimp net and make possible the easy, personal transportation our people demand. With the balance of nature completely thrown off, we need to change our focus! Florida is full of people now and our ecosystem can no longer support a large wildlife population!

Nature lovers demand we retain some of the old Florida; however, we can provide it for them with parks.

Picture if you will a Florida swamp, with still dark waters, majestic cypress and the incessant drone of invisible insects. The dank smell of decaying vegetation is subtle – not too overpowering, and while the climatically controlled air is moist, it is not sticky. Sprawled lazily on a low hanging tree limb, you find the formerly elusive Florida panther and over in the scrub a black bear and her two cubs dine on palmetto berries. Suddenly a six foot rattlesnake slithers across the path and you panic, momentarily, then remember it is only a machine and can do you no harm. The woods are alive with tiny field mice, brown doe—eyed rabbits and gaily twittering birds. A Red Tailed Hawk circles overhead, but causes no concern for the small creatures – nothing does.

Some animals were beautiful and were recreated, some were not! Turkey Vultures were admired by no one! They were ugly, loathsome, vile creatures and now with our totally efficient sanitation teams, unnecessary! Though we have failed, so far, to duplicate a few animals, like the bald eagle, we will continue our efforts.

Yes the world has changed and it is just the beginning. We, however, have the technology to control our environment and to create an even better world.

Remember the philosophy of Zen-Mouse, ”What looks real is real.”

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