It's all over the news about the tiger mauling at the San Francisco Zoo.
I have a rant about this situation, so bear with me. My rant may not be a majority view and may also be considered controversial.
First, my heart goes out to the family who lost their son in this manner. My heart also goes out to the other two people who were injured because this tiger got loose.
Second, this same tiger had injured a zoo worker previously and there was a question as to why the tiger was not put down.
Now for my rant ...
Wildlife are not meant to be held captive. It's just that simple. We have absolutely no business making money off these animals in places like zoos, enclosed "safaris" or animal parks, or marine parks.
If an animal gets loose and hurts someone, who is to blame? Certainly not the animal. So why kill the animal? Why not put them and the people out of danger by using tranquilizer guns on the animal?
It pisses me off that when someone is injured or killed by a wild animal, that the animal is then killed too. Why? What purpose does that serve? The animal is just being an animal. It did nothing wrong. They do not know right from wrong.
We have encroached upon the wildlife to the point where they have no choice but to often be part of our communities .. our suburbs ... our mountain life. If we choose to live where the wildlife live, then we had better learn to live with the consequences. It's not our right to just move in and to say "to hell with you" and shoot 'em on sight to get rid of them or to punish them for simply being animals.
Humans are not the owners of this planet. We are not the first species and we won't be the last.
Move to the mountains, but accept you will live among bears or raccoons digging into your trash cans or scaring the hell out of you when you go for a hike. Move to the beach and accept that you may see alligators or have sea gulls crapping on your head. Move to a suburb that juts against a hillside that's been known to be home to coyotes or wolves and make your necessary adjustments.
Why should the animals be punished for our greed and egos? It's ridiculous and again, it pisses me off.
One news article in the LA Times I read, says this about the tiger mauling at the zoo:
Asked why the animal was not put down after she attacked a zookeeper last year in the tigers' adjacent feeding area, Mollinedo said: "There was never consideration of putting Tatiana down. The tiger was acting like a normal tiger does."
Tigers are regarded as among the most fearsome, instinctual hunters in the animal world.
"Tigers are alpha predators. They kill and eat animals for food," said Tilson, "including humans."
Well DUH. If this has been known all along, why the hell was the tiger put in a zoo? What fun is it for the tiger to be in a habitat where it is restricted and where it is completely unnatural for them? And now just for being a tiger, it's been killed. One less tiger in a world where this species is endangered. One less tiger in a world that currently counts maybe 500 left all over the planet.
The dumb species is the humans.
'Nuf said.
Dolphin
