Knut - the Polar Bear Cub at the Berlin Zoo
- Thread starter Curiosity
- Start date
Loved the comments - much as I thought there would be. Bear your poem made me sad - but it is true - no living creature should live in a cage - but once he was rejected by his mother, there were only two options, unless a surrogate could have been found and obviously none was available.
Some who don't believe in prolonging captivity for the little wild guy - some who think he should be nurtured no matter what the outcome - he is a living creature.
If mom rejected him there may be something not presenting itself yet in him - some abnormality - I remember twin cubs were born by a mother in the San Diego Zoo I think, and she rejected them - turns out the female twin was impaired with some nutritional development which prevented her from walking upright - she was dragging her hind legs. The Zoo tested her and gave her supplements and she eventually strengthened enough to walk naturally.
Read this morning Knut was also a twin - but the other cub didn't survive - so maybe that is why mom rejected the pair.
Zoos all over many nations have large animals in captivity - many have created some expensive natural settings for their wildlife and with what researchers have learned from these creatures many other wild animals have benefitted from the knowledge.
While I would rather the baby had his mother's nurturing and care - I am happy he was allowed to live.
Final thought - awful one - abortion seems so 'routine' now... yet we are moved by this little fuzzy guy .... we are strange we humans.
Some who don't believe in prolonging captivity for the little wild guy - some who think he should be nurtured no matter what the outcome - he is a living creature.
If mom rejected him there may be something not presenting itself yet in him - some abnormality - I remember twin cubs were born by a mother in the San Diego Zoo I think, and she rejected them - turns out the female twin was impaired with some nutritional development which prevented her from walking upright - she was dragging her hind legs. The Zoo tested her and gave her supplements and she eventually strengthened enough to walk naturally.
Read this morning Knut was also a twin - but the other cub didn't survive - so maybe that is why mom rejected the pair.
Zoos all over many nations have large animals in captivity - many have created some expensive natural settings for their wildlife and with what researchers have learned from these creatures many other wild animals have benefitted from the knowledge.
While I would rather the baby had his mother's nurturing and care - I am happy he was allowed to live.
Final thought - awful one - abortion seems so 'routine' now... yet we are moved by this little fuzzy guy .... we are strange we humans.
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I am to WC, but I can't help feeling for them in some way.
I, a Bear, know what it's like to be free and what it is like to be in captivity. If given the choice, captivity or death, I would choose death.
I understand the benefits or the research and the exposure to the general public. It brings about an awareness that can only strengthen the bond of man and nature and as you have pointed out, benefits of those still in the wild.
But that doesn't change my feelings, but they are just mine, important to me and me alone.
Knut is a cute lil guy, as are most cubs at that age. But then they grow older and if they are anything like this Bear, they yurn for the caress of the free wind on their furry faces.
Benefits? Yes. Draw backs? Yes. Should he have been left to die? No. Personal inner battles rage.
Bear
It's hard having to make decisions and I wonder if we humans should have been designated 'caretakers' for all the living things on our planet.
I can't visit zoos - not since I was a child - and even then I was in tears most of the time being dragged around the exhibits - hating every minute.
It's a weakness I live with - not being able to resolve the good and bad of caring for wild critters unable to fend for themselves as newborns - still I am drawn to them.
China's Pandas would be extinct if not for the captive research going on to breed and study them - but life and birth in captivity may be weakening their natal defenses for living in the wild.
I don't know...
It's hard having to make decisions and I wonder if we humans should have been designated 'caretakers' for all the living things on our planet.
I can't visit zoos - not since I was a child - and even then I was in tears most of the time being dragged around the exhibits - hating every minute.
It's a weakness I live with - not being able to resolve the good and bad of caring for wild critters unable to fend for themselves as newborns - still I am drawn to them.
China's Pandas would be extinct if not for the captive research going on to breed and study them - but life and birth in captivity may be weakening their natal defenses for living in the wild.
I don't know...
This too is my cunundrum. But what sort of research can be gleaned if the babe isnt wild? Im not sure and Im not sure it matters. I for one live in a cage by choice but if I was MADE to be here....well you see my point.
It is only captivity if you have known another way of life bear.
A wild bear taken captive could never be happy. He could have moments, but thats it. Likewise, a captive animal sent into exhile could never be happy. He could have moments, but thats it.
A wild dog taken captive will always try to escape. A pet dog dumped in the middle of the woods will try and find a house to take it in.
People are not that special, we aren't the only ones who like social environs similar to the ones we grew up with.
A wild bear taken captive could never be happy. He could have moments, but thats it. Likewise, a captive animal sent into exhile could never be happy. He could have moments, but thats it.
A wild dog taken captive will always try to escape. A pet dog dumped in the middle of the woods will try and find a house to take it in.
People are not that special, we aren't the only ones who like social environs similar to the ones we grew up with.
What? Animals purpose have absolutely NOTHING to do with humans. Just because some jerkoff took a beautiful wild horse and made it into a servent doesn't mean that's how it was intended. They would be perfectly fine and content without us, and would presumably prefer it that way. Animals are here to serve the earth. Humanity is a fungus that is slowing destroying this planet and without US the animals would have cared for the planet for another fifty zillion years.
Serve us, how selfish and typical of a human being to see it that way. At one time it was believed that black people's purpose was to serve us too. We were certainly wrong there as well.