Slush Pile: Animal Follies

2006 Slush Pile

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Animal Follies

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

Looking through the archives, a few of the stories mentioned in this submission are already present (such as the mugger and the tiger) or something similar, but these stories go to show why people should learn to keep their distance from wild animals and zoo cages.

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. Check out Sify Offbeat

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.

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 southwest of Johannesburg. Not surprisingly, 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 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 program 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.

Then there are the show-offs. Lions mauled a South African teen-ager 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 teen-ager.

"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.

Submitted on 01/04/2006

Submitted by: Anonymous
Reference: sify.com; various dates

>> Moderator Scores <<

James said:
Maybe Toss: Other
I read this yesterday. We have the seal incident and the tiger incident in our archives (the seal incident involved a 1 year old bystander and the tiger incident is currently under consideration), but not the lion incidents. While I am in full agreement with the sentiments of the article, I can't use this for award qualifications. We need detailed write-ups for individual incidents. Thanks for submiting, however!

Greg said:
Definitely Toss: Other
Please write up incidents we don't already have (having checked both the Awards, Slush AND Rejects) individually for consideration. Thanks.

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2006 Slush Pile

Animal Follies

2006 Reader Submission Pending Acceptance

>> The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt << Link to Fight Evil.

2006 Reader Submission
Pending Acceptance

>> The Darwin Awards, by Wendy Northcutt <<
Link to Fight Evil.