OMG
Chimps Who Mauled Grad Student Deserve to Live & Be Left Alone
You know that feeling you get when you go to the zoo or the aquarium or wherever, and you're looking through an electrically-charged fence or a super-thick glass wall at some majestic wild animal and you think to yourself: That polar bear sure is big! Yikes. But he's so cute, too! Aww. He almost looks friendly! I wish I could give him a big hug. And then the rational side of your brain kicks in and you're like, Whoa, except that would be freakin' looney tunes! Get a load of those claws, dude! That bear could slice me in half!
I'm starting to think that not everybody has that secondary, rational reaction. Because no matter how many tragic attacks we hear about, people still keep trying to get up close and personal with wild animals. Like U.S. grad student Andrew Oberle, who was viciously mauled by 2 adult chimpanzees at a primate sanctuary in South Africa.
2 adult chimpanzees who will be allowed to live, it was announced today, because the chimps were only engaging in "territorial defense" behavior (triggered when Oberle stepped over the safety fence to retrieve a rock he thought the chimps would throw at visitors).
In other words, 2 adult chimpanzees who didn't do anything wrong. They were just doing what came naturally. Like the pet chimp who was shot to death after viciously (and I mean VICIOUSLY) attacked his owner's friend, Chandra Nash. Like the "tame" cheetahs that mauled a woman who thought she could pet the pretty kitties. Like the abused, displaced dolphin known for biting swimmers in a Louisiana lake. Heck, like the zebra who bit some lady eating chips in a drive-through safari with her windows rolled down.
What is the deal with people? Why do we persist in thinking we can make friends with WILD ANIMALS? Is it our society's affinity for anthropomorphism? Cause life ain't a Disney movie, and the average lion is less likely to break into song, more likely to bite off your head.
Enough with the cautionary tales already!
Why do you think people keep trying to get super close to wild animals?
Image via Chester Zoo/Flickr
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JJDancer
rotflmao, he got what he desrved, too bad it didn't kill him, survival of the fittest thingy, and he obviously is not that intelligent, oh wauit the school took his commonsense, something that is needed to activate the rational side of the brain and something he clearly lacks.
JJDancer
missed the Q at the bottom, why do people try ot get close to wild animals, easy- its the primal urge thing.
Hobbes
kevobx
American Expat
I have to agree with the disney effect; people watch so many disney and looney toons that they forget wild animals are wild. Even animals that are familiar and been around humans for a long time, and it doesn't take much to trigger a violent reaction. I watched, more than, my share of cartoons. But I also had the fortune of going on African safaris and seen how viscious wild animals can be. We witness hyenas devour, alive, a wildebeast stuck in muck, well tried to, our moms kept trying to cover our eyes. It was a grisly sight. I've watch alligators (or maybe crocodiles) suddenly jump out a river and grab a zebra, even had one chase us in our vehicle. I remember an alpha elephant that challenged us and then charged at us. The poor van could barely keep ahead of it on the rough terrain.
So yeah, while I like animals as much as any normal guy, I've learned a healthy respect for them, I just enjoy the view and leave them alone.
LucretiaMcEvil
poshkat
PonyChaser
Why do people do this? Two reasons.
First, people think that *surely* the rules don't apply to THEM.
And Second, because shows that we watched as kids, like Wild America, are no longer on. As much as I hated watching those shows - because I SWEAR the whole point of them was to get you to fall in love with the widdle-baby bunny and then WHAM!! Snagged and carried off by a hawk! - I learned exactly what American Expat is talking about... that wild animals are just that. Wild. There really is a Circle of Life, and we are not the All-Powerful Predators we think we are. Especially when we're unarmed and brainless.
kcanela
KenneMaw
So glad they are not killing those chimps. That grad student KNEW he wasn't allowed in that area. There are signs everywhere and he had been there for over 1 month. Obviously, he thought he knew better than the management staff and went into a restricted area anyway. I hate that he was attacked, but it was his fault. Who knows if the chimps that attacked him had pregnant females or new babies - they were in protection/defense mode. As for the question, I think man is truly fascinated by wild animals and things because he is 'man' he can control them. Like one mom said, I appreciate them - from a far.