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How on earth is that the Tiger's fault?!?
I'm sure by now we've all heard about the Siberian Tiger attack at the San Francisco zoo.
No?
Well, read up.
It's really very sad that the police killed the tiger. I'm not really clear on why they didn't merely trank it, I guess because that can take a few minutes and the tiger was already escaped. I just don't see why the tiger had to pay for the mistakes of humans. It's also very sad that a 17 year old kid was killed. I mean, damn.
My favorite zoo is the Detroit Zoo, mainly because that's the one I grew up with. I can remember looking at the lion enclosure, thinking that a male lion could certainly jump that puny moat if he wanted to. I also wondered if the animals weren't drugged or something to make them easy to handle. That was a rumor at the zoo for a while, that the animals were drugged.
I'm pretty torn on zoos to begin with. Of course it's not right or natural to keep animals locked up in pens for our amusement. At the same time, I really love seeing the grizzlies and lions and other "dangerous" animals I'd never see in real life. Zoos today do a much better job of keeping, especially big animals, in habitats close to what they are used to. I still haven't seen the new polar bear exhibit, but I hear it kicks ass. Somebody should take me there.
Usually when a person is attacked by a wild animal, it's because the person was doing something really stupid, like leaning against the bars or climbing over the fence. This time, the tiger actually escaped and mauled three people, killing one. Apparently this tiger had also attacked a zoo keeper during a public feeding. Zoo keepers seem to live in perpetual peril.
I can recall when the Detroit Zoo stopped keeping elephants (who, incidentally, kill roughly one zookeeper a year in the US) because they were too difficult to keep healthy. Because they are social animals, they became very unhappy in captivity, and would run into trees, smashing them with their big elephant heads. Very sad. I love zoos, but I have to wonder how much longer we will have them at all...
No?
Well, read up.
It's really very sad that the police killed the tiger. I'm not really clear on why they didn't merely trank it, I guess because that can take a few minutes and the tiger was already escaped. I just don't see why the tiger had to pay for the mistakes of humans. It's also very sad that a 17 year old kid was killed. I mean, damn.
My favorite zoo is the Detroit Zoo, mainly because that's the one I grew up with. I can remember looking at the lion enclosure, thinking that a male lion could certainly jump that puny moat if he wanted to. I also wondered if the animals weren't drugged or something to make them easy to handle. That was a rumor at the zoo for a while, that the animals were drugged.
I'm pretty torn on zoos to begin with. Of course it's not right or natural to keep animals locked up in pens for our amusement. At the same time, I really love seeing the grizzlies and lions and other "dangerous" animals I'd never see in real life. Zoos today do a much better job of keeping, especially big animals, in habitats close to what they are used to. I still haven't seen the new polar bear exhibit, but I hear it kicks ass. Somebody should take me there.
Usually when a person is attacked by a wild animal, it's because the person was doing something really stupid, like leaning against the bars or climbing over the fence. This time, the tiger actually escaped and mauled three people, killing one. Apparently this tiger had also attacked a zoo keeper during a public feeding. Zoo keepers seem to live in perpetual peril.
I can recall when the Detroit Zoo stopped keeping elephants (who, incidentally, kill roughly one zookeeper a year in the US) because they were too difficult to keep healthy. Because they are social animals, they became very unhappy in captivity, and would run into trees, smashing them with their big elephant heads. Very sad. I love zoos, but I have to wonder how much longer we will have them at all...
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On the zoo apologist side I've read claims that some animals would naturally stick to a small range and being confined in a zoo doesn't bother them, and that zoos are preserving animals whose natural habitats are being wrecked. I'm sure there are better arguments someone who has studied up on it could make. It still feels cruel to lock up something like a big cat. Although I bet most zookeepers love animals.
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Yeah, I'll bet that too. I always think of the old time circuses where the animals were in cages just big enough for them to stand and turn around in. At least THAT doesn't happen anymore.
Big cats pacing is not a good sign. I saw a Tiger doing that at the national zoo once, it was very upsetting.
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DO NOT POKE THE BEAR!
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The lions were in their own fenced in area, maybe an acre or so. There were two lionkeepers or whatever in trucks on opposite sides of the area to make sure some asshole didn't get out of his car to take a better picture or something.
They had elephants that had a whole bunch of open space, they were pretty groovy. The monkeys had their own island. So sweet.
Then they had gazelle, emu, weird deer things...it was so great. And just all this room for the animals to run around. No cages, no "natural habitats", just wide open space.
Of course, we almost got charged by a rhino. That kind of sucked. Especially when you are in a car that is smaller than the rhino. :)
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Now there's an idea.
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I've always wanted to go to one of those drive thru zoos. That sounds awesome.
...and a bear
I look forward to that.
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That's horrible if it is, but it sounds archaic to me.
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Indianapolis has a rather nice zoo. The enclosures are quite large, particularly the elephant area. They have good luck with elephant births, too. There's about 1 every year or two. And there were two giraffe births this past year.
The only animals that I've ever noticed looking irritated are the cats. Well, the lionesses, particularly. I'm guessing they're longing for 'the thrill of the hunt'?
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And yeah, mixed on zoos. It's cool to see the animals, and the better zoos have pretty good breeding programs that are helping endangered animals, but the idea of animals in captivity just makes me wince a little.
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However, people are just stupid. They do not respect wild animals, and somehow believe that the animals are supposed to respect us. In national parks, people stop and get out of their cars and walk right up to big, wild animals that can seriously hurt them. Then they get upset if the animal charges.
At the Okefenokee Swamp tourist area, there are signs everywhere warning that these are real, live, wild alligators. They are not in cages and roam about at will. Now, an alligator will not attack a human on land unless it is provoked. Mostly they just lie there. But people actually walk up to them and POKE them. ALLIGATORS!
People suck. I'm mad about the tiger getting shot.
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I'm appalled.
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But really, why would you poke a fake alligator?
Fuckwit. Snort.
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I am with you on the whole zoo thing. I guess, now that there are human habitats and laws and such, I don't feel so bad. But I remember some of the cages for the lions when I was little... I remember feeling so sad for them. Watching them walk back and forth like prisoners :(
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;-]
shooting it
The tiger was still proceeding to attack people when the police got to it. There wasn't time to get tranquilizers, and its very possible more would be dead if they hadn't shot it.
Its sad, but I don't blame the cops, I blame the zoo procedures/staff.
Re: shooting it
Sad.
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How I spent my holiday vacation
http://myspacetv.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=24816071
I believe zoos are necessary. If you have no contact or interaction with something, you cannot learn to love it, or wish to protect it. And even Elephants need human protection - from other humans. This particular elephant was abused in a circus, and once killed a guy. Now she is well treated and cared for at the Phoenix Zoo...including attention to the abscesses on her foot, even if it is sometimes painful to have them treated.
Re: How I spent my holiday vacation
Thanks for the video clip, interesting stuff. Good point about zoos as well, that is where most of us learned to love animals.
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I'm not even sure why police were involved, or how they responded with guns before park officials could trank the poor tiger.