Onetime "Bear Whisperer" Tim Treadwell has moved on to a career in Alaskan fertilizer...
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.
Onetime "Bear Whisperer" Tim Treadwell has moved on to a career in Alaskan fertilizer...
I hear the "vonage" tune playing again....
Well, that's what I tell them, anyway.
Bump...
He was Leonardo DiCaprio's hero...which is further evidence of Hollywood idiocy.
Unfortunately, the idiot animal rights wackos that get mauled by wildlife describe the event in semi-religious tones as if they communed with some supreme being rather than being mauled by nature.
Too funny ...
Well, at least she doesn't have to carry a handkerchief anymore.....
That nut-job Aussie croc hunter has a bit to do with this as well.
Max
Instead of Bush's Fault on wildlife stories it is now Disney's Fault. Someone make that a stamp for wildlife stories. Gotta blame someone.
The comment about Disney movies is spot-on.
Crikey, mate!
:-)
We don't have NEAR enough tiger enclosures in South Central LA or Central Park NY
I'm sure she was impressed.
Didn't know Disney was that popular in south Africa.
Here kitty-kitty...!
Precisely. Now, you can go up to Max and tell him he's hung like a gerbil, which is true, and be in perfect safety...unless, of course, he understands you...
Yes, nature is a vengeful and unpredictable god. She reminds me of a wild animal actually...
It seems every year at least one person is killed/seriously injured by buffalo in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
These are 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.
And I guess we learned that the 2nd Ammendment won't help you here.
Heh heh heh.
I also like the ultimate in "Kitty LIKES you!" with the tiger enclosure.
Wonder what the guy thought was gonna happen.
Did he think the critters would dance and sing 'Hakuna Matata'?
I have a niece who lives in Vegas and her only exposure to "wildlife" is the 200 Disney VHS tapes that my sister grew her up on. The damage done here to her view of reality is extensive.
Nonsense. Vegas is chock-full of healthy relationships involving man and beast.
"Ze tiger! Ze tiger es ANGRY!!!"
*chuckle*
Check and mate - I grew up there and forgot about those guys!
ROTFLMAO!!
An abused goat killed its owner . . . and then was saved by animal lovers who thought it acted rightly.
6,500 minks set free by animal rights activists rampaged through the British countryside
http://www.snopes.com/horrors/animals/snowball.htm
http://www.snopes.com/critters/crusader/crusader.asp
"Guys" may be a relative term...
Not with a lisp :)
LOL. The ability to chose doesn't automatically confer and bestow wisdom. There is a reason for the Darwin Award. Happy New Year Darksheare. 2006, here we come!
Fortunately for our young psyches when the bull charged the guy was able to jump through the window of his truck. The bison didn't slow down and rammed the side of his truck. That was back when trucks were still made of metal, but it left a huge dent.
I can't find my favorite conservationist thread of all-time. It involves two seals rescued from the Exxon Valdez oil spill by conservationists. The seals were rehabilitated over a period of severa months at considerable expense. When the time came for their re-release, the conservationists decided to make the occasion a political event. They staged a ceremony, complete with pomp and circumstance. The media, the high school band, and speeches from liberal politicians were all on the agenda. After the ceremony, the animals were released, where they were immediately and unceremoniously consumed by a pod of orcas within view of the dock.
What a sad story... sad in that these type of people often have the ability to be in charge over far more serious matters.
A couple of years ago I took the family on a trip to Yellowstone. What a glorious experience. On our first day as we drove through the park I saw a woman walking her toddler over to touch a full blown bull elk that was lying off of the side of the road. It had an enormous very sharp rack of antlers. Mom and babe were walking over for a photo shoot that dad was directing. I told my family that this was how we get rid of the "unlucky" people. What idiots. Luckily for them, a ranger arrived and chased them off before they were impaled.
Thanks, and welcome.
Happy New Year in return!
It probably isn't a thread. That was a story related by Rush on his show, and was one of the funniest bits he ever did.
Tust me, it was a thread. Rush has people who read FR for him every morning before he goes on the air.
Hmm, wonder if this 12 gauge magnum slug will bounce off the skull or just ruffle some hairs.
LOL. (That's not too disrespectful is it?)
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.
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.
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.
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.
Here's my favorite one:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1493740/posts
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