Greg Kelly, age 11, of Lancaster, Pa., for his question:

COULD HUMANS SURVIVE WITHOUT THE ANIMALS?

Common sense and courteous consideration tell us that humans could not survive without the earth's assorted animals. But, sad to say, in this day and age common sense and courteous consideration seem to be out of style. When we learn to trust these noble qualities again, many of our bewildering problems will be solved. In the meantime we must spell out valid reasons why this whacky idea cannot possibly work.

Let's first give an answer to those coldhearted characters who feel that the whole world must bow down to please them. Naturally they might like to see the end of all the animals that have their rightful share of the earth. The rest of us, including all of Andy's pen pals, of course, would feel miserably lost without the beauteous butterflies and tuneful birds, the furry mammals and all the other creatures—including both the pests and the charmers.  

Sensible folk also appreciate the animals because they have so much to teach us. Each species must cope with certain strict laws of nature  and so must we. For example, by observing how groups of animals share a given environment, we see that they must give and take and depend upon each other in order to survive. This, of course, is the basic answer to today's question.

The world of nature teems with a multitude of different plants and animals. And all depend on the special environments provided by the earth. However, each species makes its own special contribution to keep its environment in good working order. For example, animals enrich the soil and provide carbon dioxide for the plants. The plants provide oxygen and basic food for all living things  including humans.

If some ghastly catastrophe wiped out all the animals, most likely the human family would soon perish also. Possibly we could make oxygen and a few dreary foods by costly chemical means. But eventually, people would die from loneliness, boredom and downright selfishness.

Sometimes we want to wipe out a certain species, such as the pesky mosquito. This is natural, especially when we get stung. However, mosquitos provide food for bats, certain birds and other animals, and their bodies add tons of plant food to the soil. The schemes of nature that support our lives are upset when even a single species of animal is wiped out. The loss of all the animals would create an impossible world for mankind.