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Humans display their stupid side to wildlife
Reuters ^ | Sun Jan 1, 2006 | Ed Stoddard

Posted on 01/02/2006 1:51:12 PM PST by presidio9

A South African mugger fleeing the scene of his crime hides in a tiger enclosure.

On the country's coast, a woman attempts to be a good Samaritan by pushing a young seal into the sea, believing the poor thing is stranded.

Both people paid heavily for their stupidity, underscoring one of nature's truisms: humans do dumb things around wild animals.

"I blame it on Walt Disney, where animals are given human qualities. People don't understand that a wild animal is not something that is nice to pat. It can seriously harm you," said James Cameron, a South African professional hunter.

The cartoon image of wildlife may have prompted a 49-year-old South African woman in October to try to help a seal which she believed was stranded, allowing her 1-year-old grandchild to stroke the creature in the process.

The seal responded by biting off the woman's nose.

Cape Fur Seals are common on South African shores and many have become accustomed to humans.

They are a popular tourist attraction and can be viewed playing in the sea by Cape Town's waterfront -- which may also give a false impression of placid friendliness.

"Cute" seal pups have also been used as potent symbols by groups such as the International Fund for Animal Welfare, further enhancing the animal's "cuddly status".

But they can in fact be dangerous and sometimes attack people who venture too close -- as South Africa's noseless do-gooder discovered to her horror.

TIGER TROUBLE

Then there was the South African robber who made the mistake last month of taking refuge in an enclosure which turned out to be home to a pair of unimpressed tigers.

He had fled into a nearby zoo after security guards heard the screams of a couple he had just mugged in Bloemfontein, about 400 km (250 miles) south-west of Johannesburg.

Unsurprisingly, he was mauled to death by the big cats.

The mugger was not the first South African criminal to err in hiding among zoo animals.

Max, a 200 kg (440 lb.) gorilla, won fame in 1997 after being wounded by a terrified gunman who jumped a moat into his space in Johannesburg's zoo while fleeing police.

Max pinned the fugitive against the wall of his enclosure and guarded him even after being shot until police arrived, making him an instant folk hero in crime-ridden South Africa.

Other people don't realise that you shouldn't get between a mother and her offspring -- especially when dealing with the world's largest land mammal.

In April of this year, an elephant gored a tourist to death in a Ugandan national park after the man, carrying an 8-year-old boy in his arms, approached the animal's calf.

"I think many people are just far removed from nature. People who live in cities often see nature as something that is tame and manageable," said Sue Lieberman, director of the global species programme for conservation group WWF International.

"And wrongly so. We don't need to tame nature, we need to keep the wild out there," she told Reuters.

SHOW-OFFS

Then there are the show-offs.

Lions mauled a South African teenager in March who came too close to their enclosure while trying to impress his girlfriend.

The sixteen-year-old, his girlfriend and his mother were having lunch with the lion keeper when he ignored advice and went off with his girlfriend to see the lions in the breeding section of the park just north of Johannesburg.

The boy went into an area off-limits to the public and touched a lion through the mesh fence.

The lion quickly sank its teeth into his arm and dragged him under the fence before the curator came, drove the four adult lions in the enclosure away and rescued the teenager.

"It just shows a total disregard and disrespect for wild animals," said Cameron.

The boy was luckier than a couple from Taiwan in 1993, who got out of their car to photograph lions up close at a South African game park -- and who were quickly savaged to death by the beasts.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Extended News; Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: animalsarepeopletoo; anthropomorphism; bearwhisperer; darwin; dogcondoms; doggieraincoats; herekittykitty; liger; maul; maxthegorilla; napoleandynamite; pamplona; roy; rush; sigfriendandroy; timothytreadwell
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To: Vince Ferrer

Tust me, it was a thread. Rush has people who read FR for him every morning before he goes on the air.


41 posted on 01/02/2006 2:46:05 PM PST by presidio9 (Islam is as Islam does)
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To: presidio9

Hmm, wonder if this 12 gauge magnum slug will bounce off the skull or just ruffle some hairs.


42 posted on 01/02/2006 2:49:33 PM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: presidio9

LOL. (That's not too disrespectful is it?)


43 posted on 01/02/2006 2:55:34 PM PST by savedbygrace (SECURE THE BORDERS FIRST (I'M YELLING ON PURPOSE))
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To: RightWhale

Trust me on this one: If you forget to bring along a back-up RPG, you probably don't want to find out. Gentle Ben there was eventually found to have four 38 caliber slugs along with twelve 7mm slugs inside his body.


44 posted on 01/02/2006 2:57:33 PM PST by presidio9 (did I really want to pick THIS tread to accuse myself of "pirating?")
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To: presidio9
He had some cool work, but should have worn his Hurtubise second generation bear-proof suit.


45 posted on 01/02/2006 2:59:05 PM PST by Fierce Allegiance (I miss my dad.)
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To: Honor above all
A couple of years ago I took the family on a trip to Yellowstone

I grew up summering every year near Yellowstone. We had a name for these types: "Tourons", a cross between a tourist and a moron.

This sort of thing happens every day in Yellowstone. It's amazing the carnage isn't massive, with as many morons who wander about the place in a state of oblivion.

46 posted on 01/02/2006 3:01:39 PM PST by LexBaird ("I'm not questioning your patriotism, I'm answering your treason."--JennysCool)
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To: Fierce Allegiance

This may be my favorite Discovery Channel program of all time. I love when they are testing the suit by hammering him with aluminum baseball bats. If Troy's invention has yet to make him wealthy, its only because there is no justice in this world.

47 posted on 01/02/2006 3:02:09 PM PST by presidio9 (did I really want to pick THIS tread to accuse myself of "pirating?")
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To: presidio9

There was one, whose dressed out hide was 12 feet long, that after he was eventually brought down was found to have about a hundred bullets in him, some going back years. He was bad tempered to begin with, and didn't improve over time.


48 posted on 01/02/2006 3:03:20 PM PST by RightWhale (pas de lieu, Rhone que nous)
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To: presidio9
Holy guacamole batman!
49 posted on 01/02/2006 3:06:16 PM PST by steveo (No Anchovies? You've got the wrong man, I spell my name steveo...)
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To: presidio9

Here's my favorite one:

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1493740/posts


50 posted on 01/02/2006 3:07:18 PM PST by girlangler (I'd rather be fishing)
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To: girlangler
I think he rolled "snake eyes".

(chuckle)

51 posted on 01/02/2006 3:14:34 PM PST by presidio9 (Rangers Lead The Way)
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To: peyton randolph
http://www.lewrockwell.com/fontova/fontova43.html

My favorite article from Humberto Fontova...
52 posted on 01/02/2006 3:15:46 PM PST by Grizzled Bear ("Does not play well with others.")
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To: presidio9

Actually I posted the wrong thread. The one I meant to post was about a guy who picked up a snake to carry it across the road so it wouldn't get run over. The guy was an animal rights idiot and the snake (either a copperhead or rattler) bit him.

It was posted on FR long ago.

Now that was dumb!!!!!


53 posted on 01/02/2006 3:20:49 PM PST by girlangler (I'd rather be fishing)
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To: girlangler
Now that was dumb!!!!!

Don't be so hard on yourself. Everybody posts the wrong thread once in a while.

54 posted on 01/02/2006 3:23:01 PM PST by presidio9 (Rangers Lead The Way)
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To: presidio9

I loved the movie "Grizzly Man"...I thought it was comedy (the liberal is eaten by his friend the bear)


55 posted on 01/02/2006 3:26:22 PM PST by woofie
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To: woofie
Man's best friend is not immune. From Ghosts of Vesuvius:

Pompeian Dogs On the 30th of August, 1787 the bodies of a dog and his owner were found alone in a room in the ìHouse of the Vestals.î The bones of the man had been visibly gnawed. The story goes that the man and the dog had, by taking shelter in this room, become the only two living things to survive the terrible eruption. They had food and water enough to stay alive for several weeks, all the while unable to escape. They were still alive when Titusís rescue teams arrived, but their shouts were not heard through the dense layer of ash and pumice that had buried them. The man, forever loyal to his pet, which he had saved from the eruption, did not kill and eat it, even to prolong his own life. Instead, several weeks after their entombment he died of starvation. The dog, facing the same choice as his owner, chewed on the bones of his dead master. But it was in vain for all this served to do was prolong his own misery for another couple of weeks. Another story involves a chained dog that had been abandoned by his owners as they fled the eruption. The story goes that the owners had left the dog to guard the house, planning to return as soon as the eruption abated. The dog avoided being buried by the falling ash by climbing on it as it accumulated around him. But these efforts too were in vein as the unfortunate dog was overwhelmed by the volcanic surges that swept through the city.

56 posted on 01/02/2006 3:35:06 PM PST by presidio9 (Rangers Lead The Way)
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To: DakotaGator
wild animals and, despite their size, move very quickly. Warning signs are posted and ignored. Then nature takes its course

. I just nod to Darwin.

It's almost as if some intelligence designed it this way to have the gene pool self clean itself. Naaaaaa, it's just some sort of freak accident.

57 posted on 01/02/2006 3:36:30 PM PST by fella ("(News) should be the maximum of information & minimum of comment." - Cobden)
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To: presidio9
"Guys" may be a relative term...

Maybe it was a typo.

58 posted on 01/02/2006 3:39:25 PM PST by fella ("(News) should be the maximum of information & minimum of comment." - Cobden)
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To: presidio9

The Alaska Game Person I talked with said the eaten body was not a shot taken in Alaska.

Still, it is very descriptive, just the thing for all members of all of GangGreen's assorted, sordid organizational members to watch for at least 30 seconds.


59 posted on 01/02/2006 3:40:13 PM PST by GladesGuru (In a society predicated upon Liberty, it is essential to examine principle)
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To: presidio9

Ya' know, I've been thinking. My Savage 99 in 7mm Mag holds 3 in the clip and one in the throat. That makes for 2 very scary and rushed reloads with ALL of my rounds hitting flesh. I don't want to take anything away from that guy, but twelve rounds? 8 on the fly? I'm just not aware of any rifle that would dead load 6 rounds in a hunting/sporting configuration in that size. Help me out here.


60 posted on 01/02/2006 3:40:41 PM PST by Texas WOP
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