[Current Culture] The Link Between the Tiger and COVID-19

As soon as the new year dawns, everyone talks about tigers, but the Year of the Tiger, Im-in-nyeon (壬寅年), is still far away. Since the 60-year sexagenary cycle does not follow the solar calendar, we should consider the lunar New Year or, in a way, the beginning of spring (Ipchun) as the start of Im-in-nyeon. Nevertheless, in today’s column, I bring up the topic of tigers again. This story has nothing to do with the 60-year cycle.

Humans have lived by killing and driving out other species to occupy more land more safely. Looking at the birth of the United States, such conflicts even occurred among humans themselves. Tigers were also animals that lived in our mountains, but as humans encroached on their habitats, they became targets of hunting. The coronavirus is also a disease humans acquired through such processes. The reason tigers disappeared from Joseon land and the reason COVID-19 emerged are both due to human greed.

The dictionary definition of engineering is as follows: the study of scientific principles and methods to utilize nature for human benefit. We have greatly enjoyed the benefits of engineering. We built roads, installed water supply systems, constructed cities on top, dug the earth to extract coal and oil, made cars to ride, and crossed seas and continents by ships and airplanes. However, from nature’s perspective, engineering is a technology of destruction, and from the viewpoint of other species like tigers or bats, it is a weapon of slaughter. Humans have gone beyond destroying nature and ecosystems to creating substances that did not originally exist in the natural state. The invention of vinyl and plastic has disturbed nature in another way. As a result, we live more conveniently than any other era while facing the bleakest future. To paraphrase the opening line of the Communist Manifesto, the ghosts of environmental pollution and climate crisis are haunting the cities.

Even in the COVID-19 era, our behavior is contradictory. Humans, who invaded other species’ territories and caused COVID-19, have used masks to avoid the virus. How many masks have been used so far? 10 billion? 100 billion? Assuming roughly half of humanity wears one mask daily, it is estimated that about 3 trillion masks have been discarded since the outbreak. The calculation may not be exact, but it is certainly an astronomical number, and billions of non-recyclable masks are still being discarded daily.

It is fortunate that humanity, which has been extremely selfish, has finally felt a sense of crisis like “we will all die if this continues.” Science and technology, which developed to destroy nature in ways useful to humans and to drive out other species, have also become subjects of reflection. I hope this movement for change is not superficial but fundamental and comprehensive. Humans saved themselves from the hell of barbarism and led themselves to the paradise of civilization. Now is the time to use that brilliant mind in a different direction.

I am also contributing a small effort. Even if it is a little inconvenient or causes some loss, I try to choose options that put less burden on the environment. The reason I chose this topic for the first column of the new year is in the same context. The dark tunnel of COVID-19 still has no end in sight, and tigers can only be seen beyond fences, but the world is unpredictable. In Jilin Province, China, where the tiger population has increased after reintroduction, wild tigers are often spotted, and it is said that humans and animals are finding ways to coexist while protecting each other’s territories. Will we hear news of Baekdusan tigers freely roaming the Baekdudaegan mountain range, not pitifully protected by humans, in the next Year of the Tiger 12 years from now?

Lee Jae-ik, Novelist