"The upright shall have dominion over them in the morning"

The living creatures of the land, sea and air were created by the LORD (see By Him Were All Things Created and The Christian Universe) because it was "good."The LORD does nothing in vain. The humans, that were created after the other living creatures, were given "dominion" (keep that word in mind, as we will come back to it a little later) over them.

"^1:20 And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that hath life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven. ^1:21 And God created great whales, and every living creature that moveth, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. ^1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. ^1:23 And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

^1:24 And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. ^1:25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and every thing that creepeth upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

^1:26 And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth.

^1:27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. ^1:28 And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Genesis 1:20-28 KJV)

Humans are subject to physical death (see The Postponement Of Death) - the same as the animals. The "spirit" described in the verses below ("who knoweth the spirit of man that goeth upward, and the spirit of the beast that goeth downward to the earth"), in the actual Hebrew, refers to the "breath of life," from the LORD, that all living creatures, human and animal, depend upon for every second of their life. It's more than just physical breath alone (see What Makes Physical Life Possible?).   READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE HERE