Taking examples from nature

The emperor penguin is the supreme example of an animal triumphing over the most inhospitable climate the earth has to offer.

This is the story of the giant among penguins, the emperor.

Recently French biologist Luc Jacquet, working from the Dumont d'Urville base in Antartica, a place offering the closest emperor colony of any, decided this would make a marvellous topic for a documentary film.

It became a surprise box-office hit, rivalling earlier ones like the famous War of the Worlds.

In a surprising result in the United States, the fundamentalist Christians have seized on the penguins as a parable of animal values humans should copy.

In an article published in a Sydney paper, Luc poured scorn on the idea in these wonderful words: "The birds live on the very margins of survival. I believe in life, not god. But perhaps the mysterious force of life is god."

The fundamentalists are not the first to claim nature should be followed as an example for human living.

Many years ago I was lucky enough to address a lunch at Narrogin in Western Australia.

In the audience as guest of honour was Robert Menzies, a politician I disliked for his belief that environmental concerns were only a matter for States not the nation.

I began "politicians should learn some natural history".

For example, many talk of radicals white-anting the structure of government.

These insects are not white ants but termites.

In the bush, they do a lot of good removing dead wood to allow vigorous new growth to emerge.

All the audience laughed including Robert.

A famous ancient saying was "go to the ant thou sluggard, consider her ways and be wise".

Shakespeare also used many of nature's examples.

New Scientist in a recent article exploded this concept pointing out how in human terms some of nature's examples are shocking.

To consider only a few, the female praying mantis eats her mate.

A friend Angus Robinson, a dairy farmer who by acute observations, once his cows were fixed to the milking machines, took his binoculars to study the western magpies on his farm.

The scientific results published in the Emu led professor Jock Marshall, when we had lunch, to claim Angus and my brother Dom were the two greatest ornithologists in Australia.

Angus told me another story which he did not publish.

These birds live in groups of some six to 20 birds, occupying territories of as much as 40 hectares which they defend against other clans.

Angus told me he had seen one group tempting juveniles from a neighbouring clan to stray into their territory, then they would descend on the unfortunate to rape it.

No, nature is not always a good example to copy.

The best of humans show the best of examples.

Dr Vincent Serventy, Pearl Beach