The strange story of the teddy bear and what it reveals | Jon Mooallem

Prevoditelj: Maja Covic Recezent: Ivan Stamenković

So it was the fall of 1902,

U jesen 1902. godine

and President Theodore Roosevelt

predsjednik Theodore Roosevelt

needed a little break from the White House,

htio se malo odmoriti od Bijele kuće,

so he took a train to Mississippi

pa je sjeo na vlak za Mississippi

to do a little black bear hunting outside of a town

kako bi otišao u lov na crne medvjede malo izvan grada

called Smedes.

imena Smedes.

The first day of the hunt, they didn't see a single bear,

Prvoga dana lova nisu vidjeli nijednog medvjeda,

so it was a big bummer for everyone,

što je svima bila "koma",

but the second day, the dogs cornered one

no drugoga dana, psi su jednog stjerali u kut

after a really long chase, but by that point,

poslije duge potjere, no do onda je

the president had given up

predsjednik već bio odustao od lova

and gone back to camp for lunch,

i vratio se u kamp na ručak,

so his hunting guide cracked the animal

tako da je njegov pratilac u lovu udario životinju

on the top of the head with the butt of his rifle,

po glavi drškom svoje puške,

and then tied it up to a tree

a potom je zavezao za drvo

and started tooting away on his bugle

i počeo puhati u svoju trubu

to call Roosevelt back so he could have the honor

dozivajući nazad Roosevelta kako bi ovaj imao čast

of shooting it.

upucati medvjeda.

The bear was a female.

Medvjed je bio ženka.

It was dazed, injured,

Bila je omamljena, ranjena,

severely underweight, a little mangy-looking,

jako pothranjena, pomalo šugavog izgleda,

and when Roosevelt saw this animal

i kada ju je Roosevelt vidio

tied up to the tree,

zavezanu za drvo,

he just couldn't bring himself to fire at it.

nije se mogao natjerati da je upuca.

He felt like that would go against his code

Vjerovao je da bi se to kosilo s njegovim sportskim

as a sportsman.

kodeksom.

A few days later, the scene was memorialized

Poslije nekoliko dana, taj je događaj ovjekovječen

in a political cartoon back in Washington.

u političkom crtežu u Washingtonu.

It was called "Drawing a Line in Mississippi,"

Naziv mu je bio "Povlačenje crte u Mississippiju,"

and it showed Roosevelt with his gun down and his arm out,

a prikazivao je Roosevelta sa spuštenom puškom i ispruženom rukom,

sparing the bear's life,

kako pošteđuje mjedvedov život,

and the bear was sitting on its hind legs

a medvjed je bio prikazan kako sjedi na stražnjim nogama,

with these two big, frightened, wide eyes

s dva velika prestrašena raširena oka

and little ears pricked up at the top of its head.

i malim načuljenim ušima na vrhu njegove glave.

It looked really helpless, like you just wanted to

Izgledao je zaista bespomoćno, tako da biste ga htjeli

sweep it up into your arms

primiti u naručje

and reassure it.

i umiriti.

It wouldn't have looked familiar at the time,

Tada nije izgledao tako jako poznato,

but if you go looking for the cartoon now,

no ako sada vidite taj crtež

you recognize the animal right away:

odmah ćete prepoznati tu životinju:

It's a teddy bear.

to je plišani medo.

And this is how the teddy bear was born.

Tako je nastao plišani medvjedić.

Essentially, toymakers took the bear from the cartoon,

Proizvođači igračaka preuzeli su medvjeda iz crteža,

turned it into a plush toy, and then named it

pretvorili ga u igračku i prozvali ga

after President Roosevelt -- Teddy's bear.

po predsjedniku Rooseveltu -- Teddyjev medo (Teddy's bear).

And I do feel a little ridiculous

Pomalo se osjećam smiješno

that I'm up here on this stage

što sam ovdje na pozornici

and I'm choosing to use my time

i što sam odlučio iskoristiti svoje vrijeme

to tell you about a 100-year-old story

kako bih vam govorio o stogodišnjoj priči

about the invention of a squishy kid's toy,

o stvaranju mekane dječje igračke.

but I'd argue that the invention of the teddy bear,

No smatram da je stvaranje plišanog mede,

inside that story is a more important story,

unutar te priče još važnija priča,

a story about how dramatically our ideas

priča o tome kako se naše ideje

about nature can change,

o prirodi mogu dramatično mijenjati,

and also about how, on the planet right now,

i također o tome kako, trenutno na planetu,

the stories that we tell

priče koje pripovjedamo

are dramatically changing nature.

dramatično mijenjaju prirodu.

Because think about the teddy bear.

Razmislite o medvjediću.

For us, in retrospect, it feels like an obvious fit,

Nama se to, retrospektivno, čini jako logično

because bears are so cute and cuddly,

jer su medvjedi tako slatki i pozivaju na zagrljaj,

and who wouldn't want to give one to their kids to play with,

i tko ne bi htio dati jednoga svojoj djeci da se igraju s njim?

but the truth is that in 1902,

No, činjenica je da 1902.

bears weren't cute and cuddly.

medvjedi nisu bili slatki.

I mean, they looked the same,

Doduše, izgledaju jednako,

but no one thought of them that way.

no nitko nije o njima tako razmišljao.

In 1902, bears were monsters.

U to vrijeme medvjedi su bili čudovišta.

Bears were something that frickin' terrified kids.

Djeca su ih se vraški bojala.

For generations at that point,

Do tada su generacijama

the bear had been a shorthand for all the danger

medvjedi bili simbol svih opasnosti

that people were encountering on the frontier,

koje su prijetile ljudima na rubnim djelovima naselja,

and the federal government was actually

a savezna vlada je

systematically exterminating bears

sustavno istrebljivala medvjede

and lots of other predators too,

kao i mnoge ostale grabežljivce

like coyotes and wolves.

poput kojota i vukova.

These animals, they were being demonized.

Ove su životinje bile demonizirane.

They were called murderers

Nazivane su ubojicama

because they killed people's livestock.

jer su ljudima ubijale stoku.

One government biologist, he explained this

Jedan državni biolog objasnio je

war on animals like the bear by saying

ovaj rat protiv životinja poput mjedvjeda tvrdeći

that they no longer had a place

da za njih više nema mjesta

in our advancing civilization,

u našoj naprednoj civilizaciji,

and so we were just clearing them out of the way.

pa smo ih tako brisali s našeg puta.

In one 10-year period, close to half a million wolves

U periodu od 10 godina, gotovo pola milijuna vukova

had been slaughtered.

je bilo ubijeno.

The grizzly would soon be wiped out

Grizli je uskoro bio istrebljen

from 95 percent of its original territory,

s 95 posto njegovog izvornog teritorija,

and whereas once there had been 30 million bison

a dok je nekoć 30 milijuna bizona

moving across the plains, and you would have

tumaralo ravnicama, i čule bi se priče

these stories of trains having to stop

kako su se vlakovi morali zaustaviti

for four or five hours so that these thick,

na četiri ili pet sati kako bi te široke,

living rivers of the animals could pour over the tracks,

žive rijeke životinja prešle preko tračnica,

now, by 1902, there were maybe less than 100 left in the wild.

sada, do 1902. godine, preostalo ih je možda manje od 100 u divljini.

And so what I'm saying is, the teddy bear was born

Želim reći da je plišani medo rođen

into the middle of this great spasm of extermination,

u središtu ovog istrebljenja,

and you can see it as a sign that

i možemo ga promatrati kao znak

maybe some people deep down

da su možda neki ljudi duboko u sebi

were starting to feel conflicted about all that killing.

počeli osjećati grižnju savjesti zbog ovih ubijanja.

America still hated the bear and feared it,

Amerika je još uvijek mrzila medvjeda i bojala ga se,

but all of a sudden, America also wanted

no odjednom ga je također htjela

to give the bear a great big hug.

i snažno zagrliti.

So this is something that I've been really curious about in the last few years.

To me već nekoliko godina jako intrigira.

How do we imagine animals,

Kako zamišljamo životinje,

how do we think and feel about them,

kako o njima razmišljamo i što osjećamo prema njima,

and how do their reputations get written

i kako se njihova reputacija bilježi

and then rewritten in our minds?

a potom nanovo ispisuje u našim umovima?

We're here living in the eye of a great storm

Živimo u središtu velike oluje

of extinction where half the species on the planet

izumiranja gdje bi polovica vrsta na planetu

could be gone by the end of the century,

mogla nestati do kraja ovog stoljeća.

and so why is it that we come to care about

Pa kako to da nam je stalo

some of those species and not others?

do nekih od njih, ali ne i ostalih?

Well, there's a new field, a relatively new field

Postoji relativno novo područje

of social science that started looking at

društvenih znanosti koje je počelo razmatrati

these questions and trying to unpack the powerful

ova pitanja i pokušava razrješiti moćnu

and sometimes pretty schizophrenic relationships

i katkad prilično šizofrenu vezu

that we have to animals,

koju imamo sa životinjama.

and I spent a lot of time looking through

Puno vremena provodim pregledavajući

their academic journals,

njihove akademske časopise,

and all I can really say is that their findings

i jedino mogu ustvrditi da su ta otkrića

are astonishingly wide-ranging.

zapanjujuće širokog opusa.

So some of my favorites include that

Neka od meni najdražih uključuju to da

the more television a person watches in Upstate New York,

što više televizije gleda neka osoba u državi New York,

the more he or she is afraid

to se više boji

of being attacked by a black bear.

napada crnog medvjeda.

If you show a tiger to an American,

Ako Amerikancu pokažete tigra,

they're much more likely to assume that it's female

vjerojatnije je da će pretpostaviti kako je riječ o ženki

and not male.

a ne mužjaku.

In a study where a fake snake

U studiji gdje su lažna zmija

and a fake turtle were put on the side of the road,

i lažna kornjača bili postavljeni na rub ceste,

drivers hit the snake much more often than the turtle,

vozači su mnogo češće pregazili zmiju nego kornjaču,

and about three percent of drivers who hit the fake animals

i oko tri posto vozača koji su pogazili lažne životinje

seemed to do it on purpose.

učinili su to namjerno.

Women are more likely than men to get a

Za žene je vjerojatnije da će dobiti

"magical feeling" when they see dolphins in the surf.

"čaroban osjećaj" kada vide dupina u valovima.

Sixty-eight percent of mothers with

Šezdeset i osam posto majki s

"high feelings of entitlement and self-esteem"

"jakim osjećajem prava i samopouzdanja"

identified with the dancing cats

poistovjetilo se s mačkama koje plešu

in a commercial for Purina. (Laughter)

u reklami za Purinu. (Smijeh)

Americans consider lobsters

Amerikanci smatraju jastoge

more important than pigeons

važnijima od golubova

but also much, much stupider.

ali i mnogo glupljima.

Wild turkeys are seen as only slightly more dangerous than sea otters,

Divlji purani smatrani su samo malo manje opasnima od morskih vidri,

and pandas are twice as lovable as ladybugs.

a pande su dvostruko omiljenije od bubamara.

So some of this is physical, right?

Neki od faktora su fizičke prirode, zar ne?

We tend to sympathize more with animals that look like us,

Skloni smo više suosjećati sa životinjama koje nam liče,

and especially that resemble human babies,

a posebno onima koje liče bebama,

so with big, forward-facing eyes

s velikim očima koje gledaju prema naprijed,

and circular faces,

okruglim licima,

kind of a roly-poly posture.

i pomalo zdepastom građom.

This is why, if you get a Christmas card from, like,

Iz tog razloga, ako dobijete božićnu čestitku od, npr.

your great aunt in Minnesota,

vaše pratete iz Minnesote,

there's usually a fuzzy penguin chick on it,

najčešće će na njoj biti čupava beba pingvina,

and not something like a Glacier Bay wolf spider.

a ne nešto poput vučjeg pauka iz nacionalnog parka Glacier bay.

But it's not all physical, right?

No nije stvar samo u fizičkom faktoru, zar ne?

There's a cultural dimension to how we think about animals,

Postoji kulturna dimenzija u načinu na koji razmišljamo o životinjama.

and we're telling stories about these animals,

Pripovijedamo priče o ovim životinjama,

and like all stories,

i kao i sve priče,

they are shaped by the times and the places

oblikuju ih vrijeme i mjesto

in which we're telling them.

u kojima su ispričane.

So think about that moment

Zamislite taj trenutak

back in 1902 again where a ferocious bear

1902. godine kada je divlji medvjed

became a teddy bear.

postao plišani medo.

What was the context? Well, America was urbanizing.

Koji je to bio kontekst? Pa, Amerika se urbanizirala.

For the first time, nearly a majority of people lived in cities,

Po prvi puta, gotovo većina ljudi živjela je u gradovima,

so there was a growing distance between us and nature.

pa je nastajala sve veća udaljenost između nas i prirode.

There was a safe space where we could

Postojala je sigurna sredina gdje smo mogli

reconsider the bear and romanticize it.

iznova promisliti o medvjedu i romantizirati ga.

Nature could only start to seem this pure and adorable

Mogli smo početi smatrati prirodu nevinom i neodoljivom

because we didn't have to be afraid of it anymore.

budući da je se više nismo trebali bojati.

And you can see that cycle playing out

Možete vidjeti kako se taj ciklus odvija

again and again with all kinds of animals.

ponovo iznova s različitim vrstama životinja.

It seems like we're always stuck between

Čini se kao da smo vječno zapeli između

demonizing a species and wanting to wipe it out,

demoniziranja neke vrste i želje da je istrijebimo,

and then when we get very close to doing that,

a onda kada se tome jako približimo,

empathizing with it as an underdog

suosjećanja s tom pobijeđenom vrstom

and wanting to show it compassion.

i želje da joj iskažemo suosjećanje.

So we exert our power,

Iskazujemo našu moć,

but then we're unsettled

no postajemo uznemireni

by how powerful we are.

kada shvatimo koliko smo moćni.

So for example, this is one of

Na primjer, ovo je jedan od

probably thousands of letters and drawings

vjerojatno tisuće pisama i crteža

that kids sent to the Bush administration,

koje su poslala djeca Bushovoj administraciji,

begging it to protect the polar bear

moleći je da zaštiti polarne medvjede

under the Endangered Species Act,

Zakonom o ugroženim vrstama,

and these were sent back in the mid-2000s,

a poslani su sredinom 2000-tih,

when awareness of climate change was suddenly surging.

kada se svijest o klimatskim promjenama iznenada uzburkala.

We kept seeing that image of a polar bear

Stalno smo mogli vidjeti sliku polarnog medvjeda

stranded on a little ice floe

bespomoćnog na maloj santi leda

looking really morose.

izgledajući zaista mrzovoljno.

I spent days looking through these files.

Danima sam pregledavao ova pisma.

I really love them. This one's my favorite.

Stvarno mi se sviđaju. Ovo mi je najdraže.

If you can see, it's a polar bear that's drowning

Možete vidjeti da prikazuje utapajućeg medvjeda

and then it's also being eaten simultaneously

kojeg istovremeno jedu

by a lobster and a shark.

jastog i morski pas.

This one came from a kid named Fritz,

Ovo je poslao dječak Fritz,

and he's actually got a solution to climate change.

koji zapravo ima rješenje za klimatske promjene.

He's got it all worked out to an ethanol-based solution.

Zamislio je kako se sve može riješiti pomoću etanola.

He says, "I feel bad about the polar bears.

Kaže,"Žalostan sam zbog polarnih medvjeda.

I like polar bears.

Sviđaju mi se.

Everyone can use corn juice for cars. From Fritz."

Svatko može koristiti sok od kukuruza kao gorivo za aute. Od Fritza."

So 200 years ago, you would have Arctic explorers

Prije 200 godina imali smo istraživače Arktika

writing about polar bears leaping into their boats

koji su pisali o tome kako im polarni medvjedi uskaču u brodove

and trying to devour them,

i pokušavaju ih proždrijeti

even if they lit the bear on fire,

čak i ako zapale medvjeda.

but these kids don't see the polar bear that way,

No, ova djeca ne gledaju medvjede na takav način,

and actually they don't even see the polar bear

i zapravo ne doživljavaju ih

the way that I did back in the '80s.

na način na koji sam ih ja doživljavao u 80-ima.

I mean, we thought of these animals

Gledali smo na te životinje

as mysterious and terrifying lords of the Arctic.

kao na misteriozne i zastrašujuće gospodare Arktika.

But look now how quickly that climate change

No pogledajte kako je brzo klimatska promjena

has flipped the image of the animal in our minds.

promijenila sliku ovih životinja u našim umovima.

It's gone from that bloodthirsty man-killer

Od slike krvožednog ljudoždera

to this delicate, drowning victim,

do slike osjetljive utapajuće žrtve.

and when you think about it, that's kind of

Kada promislite o tome, to je svojevrsni

the conclusion to the story

zaključak priče

that the teddy bear started telling back in 1902,

koju je plišani medo započeo 1902. godine,

because back then, America had more or less

budući da je do tada Amerika više-manje

conquered its share of the continent.

bila osvojila svoj dio kontinenta.

We were just getting around to

Taman smo se bili primili zadatka

polishing off these last wild predators.

da izbrišemo te posljednje divlje grabežljivce.

Now, society's reach has expanded

Sada se doseg društva protegnuo

all the way to the top of the world,

sve do vrha svijeta,

and it's made even these, the most remote,

te je čak postigao da se ovi, najudaljeniji

the most powerful bears on the planet,

i najmoćniji medvjedi na svijetu,

seem like adorable and blameless victims.

čine kao neodoljive i nevine žrtve.

But you know, there's also a postscript to the teddy bear story

Međutim, postoji i dodatak priči o plišanom medvjediću

that not a lot of people talk about.

o kojem se baš i ne priča.

We're going to talk about it,

Mi ćemo o njoj govoriti,

because even though it didn't really take long

jer iako nije trebalo puno vremena

after Roosevelt's hunt in 1902

poslije Rooseveltova lova 1902.

for the toy to become a full-blown craze,

da igračka postane apsolutni hit,

most people figured it was a fad,

većina ljudi smatrala je da je to prolazni hir,

it was a sort of silly political novelty item

neka vrsta političkog noviteta

and it would go away once the president left office,

koji će završiti kada predsjedniku istekne mandat.

and so by 1909, when Roosevelt's successor,

Do 1909. godine, kada se Rooseveltov nasljednik,

William Howard Taft,

William Howard Taft,

was getting ready to be inaugurated,

pripremao za inauguraciju,

the toy industry was on the hunt

industrija igračaka tražila je

for the next big thing.

sljedeću veliku ideju.

They didn't do too well.

Nisu bili jako uspješni.

That January, Taft was the guest of honor

Tog siječnja Taft je bio počasni gost

at a banquet in Atlanta,

na domjenku u Atlanti,

and for days in advance,

i danima unaprijed

the big news was the menu.

velika vijest je bio meni.

They were going to be serving him

Planirali su mu servirati

a Southern specialty, a delicacy, really,

južnjački specijalitet, delikatesu,

called possum and taters.

oposuma i krumpir.

So you would have a whole opossum

Dobili biste cijelog oposuma

roasted on a bed of sweet potatoes,

pečenog na slatkom krumpiru

and then sometimes they'd leave

a katkad bi ostavili

the big tail on it like a big, meaty noodle.

njegov veliki rep, poput velikog mesnatog rezanca.

The one brought to Taft's table

Onaj kojeg su donijeli naTaftov stol

weighed 18 pounds.

težio je oko 8 kilograma.

So after dinner, the orchestra started to play,

Poslije večere, počeo je svirati orkestar

and the guests burst into song,

a gosti su zapjevali,

and all of a sudden, Taft was surprised

i iznenada, Tafta je iznenadilo

with the presentation of a gift

prezentiranje poklona

from a group of local supporters,

grupe lokalnih pristaša,

and this was a stuffed opossum toy,

što je zapravo bio plišana igračka oposum,

all beady-eyed and bald-eared,

s kuglicama umjesto očiju i golih ušiju.

and it was a new product they were putting forward

To je bio novi proizvod za kojeg su se nadali

to be the William Taft presidency's answer

da će biti Taftov predsjednički odgovor

to Teddy Roosevelt's teddy bear.

Rooseveltovu plišanom medi.

They were calling it the "billy possum."

Nazvali su ga "Oposum Billy".

Within 24 hours, the Georgia Billy Possum Company

Unutar 24 sata, tvrtka Georgia Billy Possum

was up and running, brokering deals

radila je punom parom, sklapajući dogovore

for these things nationwide,

za ovu igračku diljem zemlje,

and the Los Angeles Times announced,

a Los Angeles Times najavio je

very confidently, "The teddy bear

vrlo samopouzdano da je "Plišani medo

has been relegated to a seat in the rear,

protjeran na stražnje sjedalo,

and for four years, possibly eight,

i da će se u iduće četiri godine, moguće i osam,

the children of the United States

djeca u SAD-u

will play with billy possum."

igrati s Billyjem oposumom."

So from that point, there was a fit of opossum fever.

Od tada je započela groznica za oposumom.

There were billy possum postcards, billy possum pins,

Postojale su razglednice s Billyjem oposumom, značke,

billy possum pitchers for your cream at coffee time.

vrč s Billyjem oposumom za vrhnje za kavu.

There were smaller billy possums on a stick

Bili su i manji oposumi na štapu

that kids could wave around like flags.

s kojima bi djeca mogla mahati kao sa zastavicama.

But even with all this marketing,

No uz sav ovaj marketing,

the life of the billy possum

život Billyja oposuma

turned out to be just pathetically brief.

završio je sramotno brzo.

The toy was an absolute flop,

Igrača se pokazala kao potpuni promašaj,

and it was almost completely forgotten

i bila je skoro u potpunosti zaboravljena

by the end of the year,

do kraja te godine.

and what that means is that the billy possum

To znači da Billy oposum

didn't even make it to Christmastime,

nije izdržao ni do Božića,

which when you think about it is

što je, kada promislite,

a special sort of tragedy for a toy.

posebna vrsta tragedije za igračku.

So we can explain that failure two ways.

Taj neuspjeh objašnjavamo na dva načina.

The first, well, it's pretty obvious.

Prvi je prilično očit.

I'm going to go ahead and say it out loud anyway:

Usudit ću se izreći to na glas:

Opossums are hideous. (Laughter)

Oposumi su odvratni. (Smijeh)

But maybe more importantly is that

No možda je bitnije da je

the story of the billy possum was all wrong,

priča o Billyju oposumu bila sasvim pogrešna,

especially compared

posebno ako je usporedimo

to the backstory of the teddy bear.

s pozadinom plišanog mede.

Think about it: for most of human's evolutionary history,

Razmislite: većim djelom ljudske evolucijske povijesti

what's made bears impressive to us

ono što je medvjede činilo toliko impresivnim

has been their complete independence from us.

jest njihova potpuna neovisnost o nama.

It's that they live these parallel lives

Činjenica da žive paralelne živote

as menaces and competitors.

kao prijetnja i suparnici.

By the time Roosevelt went hunting in Mississippi,

Do vremena kada je Roosevelt otišao u lov u Mississippi,

that stature was being crushed,

ta se slika medvjeda gubila,

and the animal that he had roped to a tree

a životinja koja je bila zavezana za drvo

really was a symbol for all bears.

bila je zapravo simbol za sve medvjede.

Whether those animals lived or died now

Hoće li te životinje živjeti ili umrijeti sada

was entirely up to the compassion

je potpuno ovisilo o ljudskom suosjećanju

or the indifference of people.

ili ravnodušnosti.

That said something really ominous

To je označavalo vrlo zloslutnu

about the future of bears,

budućnost medvjeda,

but it also said something very unsettling about who we'd become,

ali također i uznemirujuću poruku o tome što smo mi ljudi postali,

if the survival of even an animal like that

ako je opstanak čak ovakve životinje

was up to us now.

ovisio o nama.

So now, a century later, if you're at all

Sada, stoljeće kasnije, ako imalo

paying attention to what's happening in the environment,

pratite što se događa okolišu,

you feel that discomfort so much more intensely.

osjećate mnogo intenzivnije tu nelagodu.

We're living now in an age of what scientists

Živimo u dobu koje su znanstvenici

have started to call "conservation reliance,"

počeli nazivati "pouzdanje u očuvanje".

and what that term means is that we've disrupted

Taj pojam pokazuje da smo toliko toga poremetili

so much that nature can't possibly stand on its own anymore,

da priroda više nikako ne može sama opstati,

and most endangered species

a najugroženije vrste

are only going to survive

jedino će preživjeti

if we stay out there in the landscape

ako ostanemo u prirodi

riggging the world around them in their favor.

i oblikujemo svijet oko njih u njihovu korist.

So we've gone hands-on

Primili smo se posla

and we can't ever take our hands off,

i nikada više ne možemo odustati od njega,

and that's a hell of a lot of work.

a to je poprilično posla.

Right now, we're training condors

Trenutno učimo kondore

not to perch on power lines.

da ne sjede na električnim žicama.

We teach whooping cranes to migrate south for the winter

Učimo ždralove da migriraju na jug za zimu

behind little ultra-light airplanes.

iza malenih iznimno laganih aviona.

We're out there feeding plague vaccine to ferrets.

Hranimo tvorove cjepivom protiv kuge.

We monitor pygmy rabbits with drones.

Nadgledamo patuljaste zečeve pomoću bespilotne letjelice na daljinsko upravljanje.

So we've gone from annihilating species

Prošli smo put od istrebljenja vrsta

to micromanaging the survival of a lot of species

do mikroupravljanja opstanka mnogih vrsta

indefinitely, and which ones?

bez prestanka. A koje su to vrste?

Well, the ones that we've told

One o kojima smo pripovijedali

compelling stories about,

snažne priče,

the ones we've decided ought to stick around.

one za koje smo odlučili da trebaju preživjeti.

The line between conservation and domestication

Granica između očuvanja i pripitomljavanja

is blurred.

nije baš jasna.

So what I've been saying is that the stories

Želim reći da su priče

that we tell about wild animals are so subjective

koje pričamo o divljim životinjama toliko subjektivne

they can be irrational

da mogu biti iracionalne

or romanticized or sensationalized.

ili romatizirane ili senzacionalizirane.

Sometimes they just have nothing to do with the facts.

Ponekad nemaju nikakve veze sa činjenicama.

But in a world of conservation reliance,

No, u svijetu u kojem se pozdajemo u očuvanje vrsta,

those stories have very real consequences,

te priče imaju vrlo realne posljedice,

because now, how we feel about an animal

jer sada naš doživljaj neke životinje

affects its survival

utječe na njen opstanak

more than anything that you read about

više no išta što se spominje

in ecology textbooks.

u udžbenicima iz ekologije.

Storytelling matters now.

Pripovijedanje je sada bitno.

Emotion matters.

Osjećaji su bitni.

Our imagination has become an ecological force.

Naša mašta postala je ekološka sila.

And so maybe the teddy bear worked in part

I možda je plišani medo uspio djelomično

because the legend of Roosevelt

zbog legende o Rooseveltu,

and that bear in Mississippi

a onaj medvjed u Misissippiju

was kind of like an allegory

bio je alegorija

of this great responsibility that society

velike odgovornosti s kojom se društvo

was just beginning to face up to back then.

tada tek počelo suočavati.

It would be another 71 years

Trebala je proći slijedeća 71 godina

before the Endangered Species Act was passed,

prije no što je donesen Zakon o ugroženim vrstama,

but really, here's its whole ethos

no ovo je njegov etos

boiled down into something like a scene

sveden na nešto poput scene

you'd see in a stained glass window.

koju biste mogli vidjeti na vitraju.

The bear is a helpless victim tied to a tree,

Medvjed je bespomoćna žrtva zavezana za drvo,

and the president of the United States

a predsjednik SAD-a

decided to show it some mercy.

odlučio mu je iskazati milost.

Thank you.

Hvala.

(Applause)

(Pljesak)

[Illustrations by Wendy MacNaughton]

[Ilustrirala Wendy MacNaughton]