- Moderator
- #1
Too many people have a complete lack of connection the Reality of the Animal World, whether it's wildlife or domestic animals. And, implied in that, is a lack of RESPECT for those animals.
Tigers are not cuddly giant cats - they are apex predators who have evolved to beautifully fit that role and deserve all that respect that entails.
Gorillas, are not humans in fur suits, they are powerful, 400 pount highly intelligent members of another species who may or may not LIKE us (a competing species) and who have their own needs and desires which may or may not include the human species.
All of these animals deserve respect, and that can't happen if people refuse to recognize that they are what they are, and have a right to be what they are and should not be expected to act like humans. Why do so many dogs end up euthanized for "aggression"? Because they are dogs trying their best to exist in a human world and if we refuse to recognize that and help them as dogs instead of expect human behavior, they'll continue to be euthanized.
Excellent article:
The Shooting of Harambe the Gorilla is Part of a Larger Problem
Tigers are not cuddly giant cats - they are apex predators who have evolved to beautifully fit that role and deserve all that respect that entails.
Gorillas, are not humans in fur suits, they are powerful, 400 pount highly intelligent members of another species who may or may not LIKE us (a competing species) and who have their own needs and desires which may or may not include the human species.
All of these animals deserve respect, and that can't happen if people refuse to recognize that they are what they are, and have a right to be what they are and should not be expected to act like humans. Why do so many dogs end up euthanized for "aggression"? Because they are dogs trying their best to exist in a human world and if we refuse to recognize that and help them as dogs instead of expect human behavior, they'll continue to be euthanized.
Excellent article:
The Shooting of Harambe the Gorilla is Part of a Larger Problem
Teaching our kids about nature is important to my wife and me. So, we spend a lot of time at zoos. It doesn’t take long to notice that most people aren’t there to learn anything. Most people who walk through the gates just think they’re going to an amusement park with animals. The result is that zoos are often unpleasant. There is little silence, little room for contemplation, almost no space for serious observation.
Kids run wild. Many, many times we’ve seen entire exhibits descended upon by groups of unruly, poorly supervised children who have little interest in what’s before them. Given this environment, it’s not surprising that a kid at one of the busiest zoos in the nation slipped into an enclosure.
You can criticize the parents. Had they been watching the boy, he wouldn’t have crawled in, he wouldn’t have fallen, and the Cincinnati zoo would have a living male gorilla named Harambe instead of a dead one.
But, if you criticize the parents, you’ve also got to criticize the general cultural ethos that tells people children require less supervision than they actually do. Especially, in the presence of wild animals. That kid’s parents were just doing what I have seen a million other parents do at the zoo: assume that everything is perfectly safe.
Second, the assumption of perfect safety is built on another assumption clearly on display at the zoo. Spend time at any zoo, or even at any local park, and you will see that people assume that the world is made for them, that the whole world exists only as an entertainment, a big show which owes them a happy ending.
When zoo officials shot Harambe, they failed to supply the requisite happy ending. That’s why the women in the picture above are crying. Their tears aren’t so much about the loss of the gorilla as they are about being reminded of how the world actually is.
Looking at animals in a zoo, ought to move us to contemplation, ought to help us to realize our place in creation, ought to bring us into deeper contact with reality. These two stories, the bison in the trunk and the shooting of Harambe, show us how far we are as a society from those ideals.
Many people are so protected from the realities of life that they cannot understand that bad things happen, that not every tragedy can be avoided. They cannot imagine that their own well-intentioned actions could be the cause of such tragedies. They know neither themselves nor the world.
Kids run wild. Many, many times we’ve seen entire exhibits descended upon by groups of unruly, poorly supervised children who have little interest in what’s before them. Given this environment, it’s not surprising that a kid at one of the busiest zoos in the nation slipped into an enclosure.
You can criticize the parents. Had they been watching the boy, he wouldn’t have crawled in, he wouldn’t have fallen, and the Cincinnati zoo would have a living male gorilla named Harambe instead of a dead one.
But, if you criticize the parents, you’ve also got to criticize the general cultural ethos that tells people children require less supervision than they actually do. Especially, in the presence of wild animals. That kid’s parents were just doing what I have seen a million other parents do at the zoo: assume that everything is perfectly safe.
Second, the assumption of perfect safety is built on another assumption clearly on display at the zoo. Spend time at any zoo, or even at any local park, and you will see that people assume that the world is made for them, that the whole world exists only as an entertainment, a big show which owes them a happy ending.
When zoo officials shot Harambe, they failed to supply the requisite happy ending. That’s why the women in the picture above are crying. Their tears aren’t so much about the loss of the gorilla as they are about being reminded of how the world actually is.
Looking at animals in a zoo, ought to move us to contemplation, ought to help us to realize our place in creation, ought to bring us into deeper contact with reality. These two stories, the bison in the trunk and the shooting of Harambe, show us how far we are as a society from those ideals.
Many people are so protected from the realities of life that they cannot understand that bad things happen, that not every tragedy can be avoided. They cannot imagine that their own well-intentioned actions could be the cause of such tragedies. They know neither themselves nor the world.
