If you don't believe that humans were made in God's image, then what is the motivation for putting humans.....?

Humans raised themselves to the top of the food chain by using their wits. If other animals can't keep up then they don't deserve to share space with us up there at the top. It is a basic law of nature - survival of the fittest. Humans have proven that they are the fittest, so far. This has nothing to do with religious beliefs.