Liana Joy Christensen

Zoo Haiku 1

disfigured, dying

no longer

the devil we know

Liana Joy Christensen

Greetings to those who share my love of writing and animals. By way of a brief introduction, I have for the last 30 years written about animals in various voices and published in multiple genres – academic, polemic and poetic. Here is a sample of one of my animal poems just published in the Fremantle Press Performance Poets anthology: performancepoets.bandcamp.com/track/beastitudes

 As one of the AASG writers in residence, I view my role as giving service within the broad and honourable tradition of trickster animals – including Anansi, Coyote, Curupira, Kuma Lisa, Br’er Rabbit and Pan. But don’t panic! Transdisciplinary rule breaking might sound ominous – and the text and theme of some of my writings may sometimes be somber as befits the subject matter – but the prevailing spirit is one of laughter and play: I consider them to be among the best ways to re-embody the connection with our kin.

 I am going to be posting Zoo Haiku on the blog in response to your writing and papers. They will not fit the traditional criteria (see Trickster above!). However, they will be a short poetic reprise of your passions and work. See if you can recognise and claim your own haiku here. If your work does not appear, I invite you to distil the very essence of your work and write and post your own.

Meera Atkinson

The Life in the Anthropocene conference website states that ‘The Anthropocene
describes a period of geological time dominated by homosapiens and marked by
the significant impact of human activity on the planet. At a time when the natural
world is ever more subject to human intervention, interspecies relations face many
challenges. If the cultural and scientific moment of the Anthropocene puts ‘us’ in our
place, then it is time to reconsider our place with them, the other animals.’

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie introduces a bill in Federal parliament calling
for the phasing out of the live export trade while holding up a blown up colour
image of a bull called Jacob suffering gratuitous violence during slaughter in
Egypt. A koala is released back into its favourite tree after being successfully treated 
for chlamydia by Australia Zoo. A five-year old Gelding called Reckless Rat is killed 
in a jumps race (horses are 20 times more likely to die on the field than in flat racing) 
and a petition does the rounds. A proposal to increase protections of polar bears fails to 
win international support at a conservation conference, despite increased threats to 
the species due to shrinking ice caps and wildlife trafficking. The headline ‘Puppy Farm Raid’ 
appears in the South Australian newspaper The Courier, above a photo of a neglected dog 
living in isolation and squalor; Weekly Times Now  appeals for foster homes for
the 100 rescued animals. A video of the laborious rescue by a team of researchers who
happened upon a dying whale entangled in netting goes viral; once freed the
whale rallies to a joyful frolic. A legal team assembled by The Barristers Animal Welfare Panel
secure a temporary stay on the ACTs proposed kangaroo cull in which up to 1,455 ‘roos
were expected to be killed. ABC Rural reports that ‘A Senate inquiry has
found there’s an “urgent” need to tighten monitoring and regulation of
antibiotics given to farm animals’ due to ‘widespread scientific concern that
the use of antibiotics in the food chain may be increasing the threat of
superbugs being passed on to humans.’ 

These are just a handful of recent stories and realities, snapshots of the multifaceted 
nexus between human and non-human animals. There has never been a time in 
history when our relationship to animals has been more scrutinised, more debated, 
more represented in a multitude of ways and across various mediums and contexts. 
From numerous forms of media, to art and literature, to committees and legislation 
we are called upon to respond to the complex 21st century dilemmas we find ourselves 
faced with.

The rise of multi-disciplinary human-animal studies and the posthumanities,
and the advent of organisations and research centres like the AASG and HARN, 
and workshops like Animals + Writing are much-needed and timely developments 
that promise to help shape our thinking, practices and policies. Of one thing we can 
be certain: there will be few unified positions among the participants of such
a venture. Rather, diverse interventions mingle at an event like Life in the Anthropocene 
and its blog. Let’s not mince words: there are inevitably tensions and at times
cross-purposes. Passions can ride high, which is understandable, for often much
is at stake. We offer this forum, then, as an opportunity to step back and
consider new information and angles as well as to step up and into the exchanges
that ensue. We WiRs look forward to hearing from delegates and non-delegates
alike about what matters to you, what concerns you, what intrigues you, what
moves you or delights you, and why. We hope this will be a space in which we can
express our views, a place where we can come together to share, listen, explore,
ponder and learn.

I want to kick the blog off with two borrowed thoughts. Mahatma Gandhi is
quoted as saying ‘The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged
by the way its animals are treated.’ The writer George Orwell is said to have
declared: 'Man is the only creature that consumes without producing. He does not
give milk, he does not lay eggs, he is too weak to pull the plough, he cannot run fast 
enough to catch rabbits. Yet he is Lord of all the animals.' What kinds of questions and 
critiques do these quotes inspire? Which of them speaks to you more, and why? 
What are their ethical implications?

NOTE: The conference committee has opened up the final session and the
Closing Plenary of the conference to the public. Anyone wishing to attend only
on Wednesday 10 July in the afternoon may do so FREE OF CHARGE. Vets can claim
CPD points for their attendance. Register Here.