'Between 1970 and 2012, according to the World Wildlife Fund, the population of non-human vertebrate animals on earth dropped by 58%.'

In her lead essay in the Spring edition of Meanjin, author Jane Rawson wonders at the unfolding tragedy of our moment: we are living through a mass extinction. By 2020 we will have lost 70% of animal life on the planet. 'There is only the tiniest whisper of wildness left on the landmasses of this planet and that tiny whisper is on the brink of going silent. Everything—all of it—will soon be us.'

Plus: Bruce Pascoe, Fatima Measham, Katharine Murphy, Jonno Revanche, Gray Connolly, Robyn Williams, Sheila Ngoc Pham, Anne Casey, Ben Walter and Shaun Micallef.