Ever longed to witness an eagle sail skyward to nab one of those obnoxiously buzzing drones above your neighborhood? Well, the moment might not be so far off. In new book, _A Bestiary of the Anthropocene—_published by Onomatopee Projects_—_drone-catching eagles are trained by police and military forces to thwart ill-intending aerial missions, like terrorist attacks, by locating and retrieving the invaders without tearing them apart. Below, people remain safe. This phenomenon and other productive interspecies solutions for modern conundrums are conceptualized by Nicolas Nova and Disnovation.org in this brilliant new field handbook for the “post-natural” era in which we live.
_A Bestiary of the Anthropocene_ emphasizes the importance of breaking down the long-standing myth of human exceptionalism, particularly in the 21st century, when the line between the “natural” and the “artificial” has been exceedingly blurred. The book’s creators put it perfectly when they share, “There is no such thing as humans in the center and nature on the outside, as everything is deeply interconnected.” They further emphasize that when humans work with the species around them in a collaborative way, there is no limit to what they can achieve. “Birds, and animals in general,” they explain, “have played a significant role in human military history, mainly to perform specific tasks during warfare: carrying packages, exchanging messages, acting as weapons or protectors.”
What’s more, the complex interactions between animals and humans can help raise awareness around anthropocenic imminence. In recent years, for example, birds have been used to help combat one of the most pressing issues this generation is facing: climate change. Consider PigeonBlog, an environmental air pollution data gathering system designed by Beatriz da Costa. Its technology can help gather accurate and targeted data about the current toxic state of the atmosphere. Nova and the Disnovation.org editors explain that in this system, “pigeons carry custom-built, miniature air pollution sensing devices enabled to send the collected, localized information to an online server without delay.”
In the case of PigeonBlog, the natural and artificial work symbiotically, but this is not always the case—historically, these two ends of the spectrum have been at odds with each other. Canaries, for example, played a critical role in coal mines until the 1980s, helping to identify “signs of distress caused by carbon monoxide or asphyxiant gases such as methane,” the book’s creators explain. “When canaries stopped singing or just passed out, it indicated that conditions were unsafe.” Canaries were eventually replaced altogether by electronic gas detectors. The inhumane exploitation of these birds in coal mining practices eventually came full circle—a natural resource innovation that required animals no longer needed them. Granted, coal mining has contributed to the critical mass of the anthropecene, so let’s hope the planet can spread its wings wider with energy alternatives in years to come.
We are living in a hybrid environment, where it has become increasingly impossible to define what is “natural.” The important approach, however, is not in distinguishing organic from synthetic, but advancing together in a way that is less harmful to our planet. We must let go of the concept of human exceptionalism before we can successfully address ecosystemic issues at large. The good news is that birds, humans, and all other species are all equally important players on Earth, and what’s good for the goose… is good for the gander.
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