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Anniboodk
Fire-eater
Joined: Feb 27, 2004
Posts: 2788
Location: Copenhagen
Status: Offline
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 Posted:
Apr 12, 2005 - 08:20 AM |
 
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| Post subject: Zoos and common sense! |
Father sees son mauled to death by tiger
By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-04-12 06:36
A desperate father fought in vain to save his eight-year-old son from being mauled to death by a tiger on Sunday at a zoo in Changde, Central China's Hunan Province.
Victim Mei Changhua climbed over a 1-metre-high barrier to get a better view of the big cats, when a tiger attacked him through the bars of its cage.
Despite his father's efforts, Mei bled to death before reaching hospital on Sunday, the local newspaper Xiaoxiang Morning Post reported.
The death has prompted an outcry, with the zoo being slammed for failing to protect visitors.
"If proper zoo-keeping rules had been adhered to, this tragedy would never have happened," He Yong, an official with US-based International Fund for Animal Welfare said yesterday in Beijing.
As a place often visited by children, the zoo has a responsibility to create a safe environment for both visitors and the animals on display, he added.
Shortly after the accident, one visitor said the 1-metre-high fence to keep people away from the cage was obviously inadequate and very easy for children to jump over.
Local resident Pan Jiang, who has a five-year-old son of his own, said that if the boy had been with an adult the accident would not have happened.
When he went to see the tigers, the dead boy was only with his 10-year-old cousin, Chen Lei. Mei's father, Mei Qide, had accompanied the boys to the zoo in Linjiang Park on Sunday afternoon, but had not gone inside to save the price of an adult ticket.
Mei senior only arrived on the scene after his nephew came to get him, following the tiger's attack on his son.
During his rescue attempt, Mei senior was seriously wounded, but despite pulling his son free of the big cat, was not in time to stop him bleeding to death on the way to hospital.
Media attempts to contact the zoo's administration were unsuccessful.
A source surnamed Zhang, who is with the Changde Gardening Administration, said the zoo's owner is a private businessman, who hires very limited numbers of workers to run the zoo, which covers about two hectares inside the government-owned Linjiang Park.
According to Zhang, the zoo is already in discussion with the Mei family over compensation for the boy's death.
This article really really pisses me off. Because, I went to the zoo in Shanghai this past weekend and got really frustrated that the animals were not being properly cared for (many seemed to have skin problems and their cages were filthy), in my opinion, if a city/country does not have the resources/incentive to take care of these animals then they have zero rights to open a zoo. Secondly, although there were signs everywhere not to feed the animals, people were doing it, to get a closer look at the giraffe or monkey or whatever. They were feeding them crackers, chocolate and sausages. I was appalled, I am no animal doctor but I can't imagine that a giraffe is suppose to eat a sausage!! I got so angry seeing this. Thirdly, people were completely disregarding the signs that said "Do not climb", "Do not touch cage". Yet, people were really getting dangerously close to a lot of the animals, which is why accidents like the story above happens. People here don't care! All they care about is that they get close enough so that they get a good photo or that their child gets a good look. So many horrible accidents could be avoided if they only used a little common sense. |
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bleucheese
Veejay
Joined: Aug 01, 2003
Posts: 2000
Location: this side of the tracks
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Apr 12, 2005 - 08:13 PM |
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Yeah I think, unfortunately, the problem is pervasive in Asia. I took my cousins from the Philippines to the Bronx zoo one time and was flabberghasted by their insistance of throwing junk food at the animals to try and get a reaction.
And they arent mean spirited people. This was my lovely old auntie and uncle and their kids. All throwing McDonalds at the rhinos and the chimps to get them excited.
They just dont know any better and from their point of view, they paid good money not to see the animals acting naturally but to see some kind of show. To them, they are just animals in a cage that should do their bidding.
All the more reason to abolish zoos outright. Dont get me wrong, I think scientific research on animals has its merits. "If it benefits mankind, gas away" is my motto.
But putting a primate in a cage for the sole purpose of allowing joe blow to point, stare, snap photos and laugh while the Curious George takes a crap or gets it on with Anna Banana is just....wrong.
Education is a big part of it. My buddy Amy out in Maui is a dive instructor and she is constantly having to reprimand Japanese divers for standing on live coral reef, not to mention breaking pieces of it off as souvenirs. Yes, a few Western tourists do the same (apparently, mostly the new moneyed Eastern Europeans) but by and large, its the wealthy Japanese who come to Maui and who have no concept of respect for the environment. Which I find ironic when Ive heard so many stories of how advanced their recycling plants are etc.
And I suspect that if the Filipinos and Chinese had the money to flock to Maui, they would be seeing the same flippant attitude to momma nature. Once again, education is key.
And abolish the goddamn zoos already! |
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fukuman
Wonder Wit
Joined: Sep 18, 2003
Posts: 3699
Status: Offline
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Apr 12, 2005 - 10:28 PM |
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" I took my cousins from the Philippines to the Bronx zoo one time and was flabberghasted by their insistance of throwing junk food at the animals to try and get a reaction. "
have u ever seen the local chicken shop do a special in a black area?
]come check out heping park zoo. half the animals r dead in their 2m swaured cages already, but the they DO live better than the locals...... |
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MaomingMaster
Board Legend
Joined: Feb 03, 2004
Posts: 11059
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Apr 13, 2005 - 07:28 AM |
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Years ago I went to the Pudong Aquarium near the Pearl Oriental Tower. I was asked to go with this Middle School and as soon as all the kids got in there they went apeshit.
Many of the boys had bought ducklings and put them in the fishtanks and they were promptly attacked and eaten much to the delight of all the kids.
One kid fell in a tank.
A girl had caught some kind of eel and had hidden it in her bag. This was found by one of the teachers later when we were leaving the aquarium. We were on the bus and the teacher just slung the (still live) eel out of the window into oncoming traffic.
There's a kind of tunnel in the aquarium where you walk underneath sharks and other stuff. The kids were whacking the glass roof of the tunnel with their bags, shoes or umbrellas to get the sharks to move around faster.
The thing that made me laugh the hardest (I was laughing my arse off all the time apart from the eel episode) was that the teachers were just as bad as the kids. |
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ShanghaiUnderground
StreetBeater
Joined: July 15, 2004
Posts: 2413
Location: Shanghai
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Apr 13, 2005 - 07:55 AM |
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Fuqin amazing, and disgusting!
Time to liberate the local zoos and aquariums. How much would a tiger fetch on HuangHe Lu?
If none of you haven't, you should visit the Night Safari zoo in Singapore. Excellent. |
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"And this also," said Marlow suddenly, "has been one of the dark places of the earth." |
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