According to the Bible:
Man was made in the image of God.
Animals weren't.
Man was given dominion over the earth and the animals.
Man's purpose was different than the animals.
We can infer that Man's purpose was to reflect God to creation and rule over it as God would. Man is designed to "tend the Garden".
Part of this requires understanding the Biblical principle that God creates things in the temporal to reflect and instruct on spiritual realities.
Based on what I know about permaculture and regenerating landscapes through livestock, I would conclude that the purpose of animals was as a necessary part of healing land, maintaining life giving ecological cycles, and increasing the earth's capacity to support life by increasing soil fertility and stimulating more organic matter production (Ie. More life begets more life. A reflection of who God is and how He works).
This isn't something you really appreciate until you understand how these various sizes and types of animals all fulfill different aspects in a permaculture system that we as humans try to make up for with our labor and technology. You could almost see the animals as living machinery designed to fulfill a specific function as part of a larger integrated system. But calling them machines is not meant to imply they weren't treated with value and respect. It is simply meant to point to how specifically they could be designed to fulfill a vital function within the whole ecological system.
And that the purpose of man was to direct and steward this process. Presumably to maximize gains and ensure all the animals got what they needed by being allocated certain areas and roles. (You'd have to understand that, before the fall, man appears to be able to communication with animals. As seen with the snake).
I often wondered how man was suppose to "tend the Garden of Eden" with just his bare hands. But if Adam had the capacity to give directions to animals as his co-laborers in tending creation, then there would be no need for tools or for Adam to even have the physiology to do everything himself.
Need those branches up high pruned? An elephant or brontosaurus could do it.
Need an area of brush and brambles cleared to make way for grass? Specific animals like goats can do that better.
Need a grass field mowed down low? You need grazing rather than browsing animals for that.
Those are just some examples to give you an idea.
The reason satan wanted to corrupt the image of God in the earth and corrupt creation was because he wanted to stop it from being a reflection of who God is and how God works. We see this all throughout the Bible and history where satan tries to corrupt the things God has established so that they no longer are an accurate reflection of God's truth.
The fall of man was when corruption and death entered the world. And now the way man and animals interact with each other and creation can often be more destructive than creative. Satan wanted to recreate man and the world in his own image.
When Jesus returns things will be restored as they were originally intended to be.
The Bible says the lion will eat straw and the child will play next to the snake's den.
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