Sunday, April 12, 2009

It's a given that where large predators and people both exist,

occasionally a predator is going to chomp a human, or a human is- where not disarmed- have to shoot a predator. Or some combination thereof. But if you're stupid enough to annoy the predator in a zoo, the keepers have to try to save your dumb ass.
Zoo keepers saved the life of a German woman who jumped into a polar bear enclosure at Berlin Zoo by pushing away of one of the animals when it attacked her.

The keepers' bravery was praised after they dragged the 32-year-old out of a moat for the animals. They had to shove the animal out of the way after one of four polar bears dived into the water and attacked her, inflicting serious bites to her legs and arms
.
Zookeepers 1, bear .3; it only got a taste.
Police did not say why the woman jumped into the enclosure. She had to climb over a fence, a line of prickly hedges and a wall to get in.
Ah, but were there signs? Huh? Any signs saying "Enter this enclosure and you'll probably die!"? Insufficient precautions, get a lawyer!

For a bit of understatement and truth, we have this statement from the cops:
"The woman has proved herself to be careless by jumping into the enclosure," a police spokesman said afterwards. "Logic tells us that polar bears will do this type of thing in this situation."
Well, yeah, they will. Which means, probably about a day before some 'animal rights' weenie starts calling for the bears to be
A: Released into the wild as zoos are terrible places, or
B: Since these animals have been corrupted by contact with humans, they should be killed. Turn them loose, and they might corrupt the others.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hate stupid people. That's about all I can say. Kind of like those snake handling churches that handle rattlesnakes and sh*t. "DAMN! It bit me!", cries out one man. "Ahhh, see? He didn't have enough faith. That, or he sinned too much this past week", says the pastor to the congregation.

Now, I have to speak up about zoos. YEPPER! You so knew THIS was coming, Firehand.

I'm not overly fond of zoos. I mean, sure, they're great for the little birds and some snakes. Oh, and maybe for the lizards...sure, live it up at the zoo. But here at the Louisville Zoo, ahem, that's LOUISVILLE ZOO (I hope the people from the zoo read this) We have two to three elephants on LESS THAN an acre of ground. It's nothing but an area of dirt...no grass, nothing. Oh, wait...I'm sorry. They put a tire in there for the elephants to play with.
The monkies have plenty of room. The polar bear, I nicknamed "Goober" paces back and forth. Doing the same repetitive movements, time and time again. Goober will take about 5 steps over to the wall, stand up, turn around, and take another 5 steps back. LOOK! It's going to do something different now. Nope. There it goes again, 5 steps, stand, turn, 5 steps. I feel sorry for the animals with VERY LITTLE space. Don't get me wrong, those animals, to the best of my knowledge are being treated wonderfully. But where the zoo screwed up here is giving more room for the Lorikeet Landing. They expanded that exhibit and others....but for the largest animals at the zoo, NO EXPANSION. And THAT's the problem I have with what zoo? Let me REPEAT: (Maybe it would help if I could get other's to voice their opinions...IF your opinion consists of maybe providing more space for the larger animals at the zoo.

LOUISVILLE ZOO.

Firehand said...

Used to be a big problem at the OKC zoo, too. Happily, one of the first things on the list when they got the funding was nice areas for the big critters. Though the elephants still need more room.

Anonymous said...

That is VERY good news to hear. I'm glad that there is at least ONE zoo who's concerned about larger areas for the big animals. That is very good news, indeed!