I haven't followed this thread and imagine my surprise when I saw that the recent posts are about the Navy Seal sharpshooters lol.

Back on topic:

Scenes from the zoo - The Big Picture - Boston.com

Ahaha, bit late for a topic change again. I went back and had a look at where the thread began to drift lol and It appears (or rather appeared) we have another Pirate thread.
Pirates of Somalia vs. DAL Pirates has a ring to it

Looking at the Big Picture reminded me of this I was sent a few months ago.

Panda Kindergarten


This is for those that haven't seen the 16 baby pandas. SICHUAN , China -- One zoo in southwest China has its hands full with 16 baby pandas.

The Sichuan Wolong Panda Protection and Breed Center is dealing with the results of a breeding boom where 16 pandas have been born.

The brood includes five sets of twins.

The cubs are weighed and measured every five days (see pics)

The heaviest tips the scale at just over 24 pounds, while the lightest weighs about 11 pounds.

The pandas are due to stop suckling soon - just about the time they'll start learning to walk.

Once weaned, the panda cubs will attend panda kindergarten.

In the meantime, more little ones are expected at the centre since 38 giant pandas were artificially impregnated.

Pandas may be cute cuddly but they are still wild by nature so they can be dangerous as adults.

From jeph's link, number 13, thos cubs are only 6 weeks old and they are already baring their teeth.

Don't you believe animals have a right to bare their teeth at people?

Put it this way. Would you rather have a tame lion that has lost it's ability to fend for itself and warn of preditors? Okay so it might be relaxed around humans but that's exactly the sort of thing I believe we SHOULDN'T be doing to these animals; it's not natural for them to lose their inhabits.

If there was a human in the Amazon rainforest and you was a BigCat, would you leave it?

Would you rather have a lap cat rather than a magestic beast with power and strength?

Would YOU like to be kept in those conditions?

Would YOU like to have a camera crew stuck in your face when all you want is your mother?

I think if that was you, the least you'd want to do was snarl at the cameras. I'd rip the lenses off if I was that pup. I feel very strongly about the rights of animals.

My point is that domesticated animals still are a bit wild especially the average house cat. The only difference is that the average house cat is only a few pounds as compared to a few hundred. People like to take in wild animals like lions, pandas, chimps, etc. domesticate them [which I do agree is wrong] because they are cute as babies, and then expect them to behave like a loyal harmless pet. What could go wrong is that the animal can suddenly get very territorial and harm the human that owned and even raised them because they felt threatened. That is when people get surprised and wonder what went wrong and what they don't realize is that they went wrong.

For example, recently it was all over the news that a woman owned a male chimp and everyone was shocked when the chimp tried to kill the women. Surely you heard of that? The cute, cuddly chimps that you see on TV or in tests are females. The male chimps weigh 300+ pounds and are incredibly strong. This one in particular tried to eat her after rendering her unable to defend herself. A psychology proff I had pointed that out and said that the males will kill someone if they feel threatened by them. Thats nature. Even at 6 weeks old the cute cubs were already showing that side of them even though they were born in captivity which is what my point was. Now they are harmless but think about when they are adults and weigh a few hundred pounds, are strong, fast, and have razor sharp teeth and claws.

When it comes to you being the animal even if you aren't interested in eating the human you will protect yourself if you feel threatened or if you feel that your young are threatened. That is something we generally forget when it is really something that we should take very seriously especially if the animal is much larger than us.

Read this article about 2 men that had to give up their pet lion and think about why they had to and what might have happened if they didn't.

That's a very interesting read there, thank you.

That is when people get surprised and wonder what went wrong and what they don't realize is that they went wrong.

Completely true. Although some people would argue that they were just raising the animals until it got to the point until it could fend for itself. Well, if they'd stopped feeding it, it would have definitely been able to fend for itself, but if it's being waited on hand and foot (or paw to paw I should say) how is is supposed to be a real animal?
Then again, when people raise wild animals as pets they always insist that they will give them to a conservation project or hand them to a zoo/ safari park when they get too much to handle. That to me sounds a bit, well, wrong. Keeping the animal in captivity at the most crutial time of its life as it's growing up may have the positive results that it learns to get along with humans, but captivity is generally bad for any animals on the whole wild or not.

Oooh, that article I believe was one of the first stories that first made me realise when I was a little younger that I wanted to spend my time working with BigCats and endangered animals. I know that story very well and yes I see your point completely about why they had to give it up the better of course, despite how much they loved it.

I think the reunition story is the best. How Christian met with his beloved pre-owner once more yet for the last time, and how it still remembered him. If I'd known the lion for so long I don't think I'd have run either if It came bounding towards me, however anticipation for what it might do when it sees you is always a priority. You get to know the animal well, know it's habitats and what it does when it's around you. I was pleasantly surprised that once it had reunited with Rendell for the last time, Christain allowed his Pride to meet with this strange human too. The family of Christian, wife too.

It's amazing how majestic these animals are and how afffectionate they can be with the right attention and consideration when it comes to letting go.

It worries me when people be-little animals of this size and nature.

Originally Posted by k_9

...they get too much to handle.

Thats [part of] my point!!! People think that when they are babies that they are small, harmless, and cute and for the most part they're correct. They think "Hey lets raise this thing like its just another domesticated animal, after all it's not too much different." They aren't thinking of the fact that they are wild by nature and pets are also wild by nature just on a much smaller scale. What about when it grows up and becomes a massive adult??? Even though its environment is completely different than an animal raised in the wild it still has that tendency & the idiots that decide to raise it don't even think about that.


Those 6 week old cubs were already showing, under duress, their wild side and thats scary.

Originally Posted by k_9

I think if that was you, the least you'd want to do was snarl at the cameras. I'd rip the lenses off if I was that pup.

If it had been an adult it could have done way more than that!!! What really presses my button is when something does go wrong [like that lady's chimp] they blame the animal [not themselves] and go shoot it after acting so surprised. That incident didn't surprise me at all.

Haha, I can almost picture you shaking someone by the shoulders going "Nooo, you can't keep this wild animals as a pet!"

It amazes me how people cannot see that the animals would be best being looked after my safari and conservation rangers etc for its own well being if for any circumstances it must be taken out of the wild. That cub... doesn't know what's going on is what I was most concerned about. By going from what you said about:

Those 6 week old cubs were already showing, under duress, their wild side and thats scary.

The cub will either learn to hate humans whilst being around them, or undergo intense training to make it bahave, otherwise...
Training a wild animal, what is this world coming to?! The thing is, some of these safaris etc believe that they're looking after this animal purely for conservational purposes, when they're not.

The story about Christain reminded me of a really heartwarming film I love to watch called "Two Brothers" It's about two tiger cubs called Samal and Kumah who are seperated from their parents in the Jungle because pochers are hunting in the area. The temples of which the tigers live are being destroyed and the cubs are forced to watch their parents being killed. The cubs are taken into the homes of a young boy and a famous journalist, yet when they become too large they're taken away. Yes, it was the right decision for them to leave their owners... but they were each sold to a circus where they were beat and forced to master jumping through fire hoops etc.
In the end they were reunited in a Bull ring and forced to fight. They were brothers and recognise each other after the teath bearing and snarling. Although they did not pick up from a young age, they learn to hate humans which is the opposite to the story about Christain. They play instead of fight which was very heartwarming after watching the traumatising life they were given, yet because they did not fight they were shot at.
The end of the film was very symbolistic to me. Both brothers looking into the sunset and the light beaming through the hole in the ear from the one tiger from the shot.

I don't believe that when Charles Darwin was creating his Theory of Natural Selection and the Theory of Evolution, he had Rangers telling him that they knew best and that the captivity was for the best interests of thsi animal.
The best interests? Letting it raise a family, hunt for itself, own a territory and mates. Letting it survive and be wild in its natural habitat whether that may be Africa or somewhere else, but definitely not an appartment in the middle of London!!!

2009 Tour de France - The Big Picture - Boston.com