Zoo horror: man butchered by bears in Ukraine
Published: 14 July, 2008, 21:58
A man has been mauled to death by two brown bears in a Ukrainian zoo.
I agree with Nick. I use to volunteer at the zoo. I love the wild animals and I got really lucky. When I was growing up I thought that I had some special connection with animals and I thought that I could control them if need be. Well that works with domestic animals quite nicely. SO I thought about trying out my charm on the lions. And I noticed that it work quite well on the baby lions. They thought I was something special. But as the lion cub grows, I knew in my heart that their was a point in the play that these animals need to go pass light play and get rough enough to kill, if they are to survive and that is INSTINCTIVE. They are going to play to kill because that is how they learn to survive. I knew that all the love and tenderness and convidence was not going to save me. This experience created a healthy fear and that is why I am lucky. I hope that people learn to respect these wonderful animals but keep a healthy fear and that protects everyone, the people and the beast.
They are careless idiots all over the world. Why give them press
Good for the bear! One more drunk that learned about reality the hard. If this had happened in the United States, they would have killed the bear, sued the zoo, lit candles, held hands and sang Kum Ba Yah.
There first was rales around the pit...then a steel cage that obviously you would have to climb...so my thing if your stupid enough to climb that then your stupid enough to get killed when you fall in. Who was letting this idiot thru the gate...im sure he was drunk when he was purchasing his ticket....Ive been to many zoos and not once thought o let me climb over the fence so i can touch the tiger cub...come on people dont be stupid...zoos r everywhere and only stupid parents let there kids climb on the gorilla cage...its not the animals fault or the zoos its the idiots they let in that ruin it for everyone else as usual!!!
I am very sorry for this man and family,but it just goes to show you cant even get close to a wild animal unless you are very well trained!Like Patricia said you cant blame the animals its their instinct to kill prey, if people interfear they could very well leave injured or in this case killed.I love animals I always wanted to be an animal conservationist and i am 12 and i very well know you have to be prepared and know how to function with animals,my family says i am wonderul with animals,but like i said i know you have to be pepared.Another thing is if a gate is around a group of animals in a zoo it is supposed to be there and even now I still get nevous when someone hangs over gates at the zoo!I dont know if anyone thinks i should not be on here because i am a kid ,that is wrong kids are the future and people need to realize we are alot smarter than some people think.Everyone says i am very mature for being 12 because alot of kids need to start having says in things. My school is closing this year and we have been a school of excellence for 7 years.I go to pleasantview and i lov that school so much!IF YOU READ ALL OF MY MEASAGE THANKS !!!!
The bears look well fed, I wonder how much they ate and whether they got a buzz off the drunken man meat.
I can only hope this man had no children, for he may have passed the "stupid' gene onto his offspring. We cannot take the "wild" out of wildlife, nor should we try. These animals did nothing but eat a little earlier than normal.
It's bad enough we imprison a wild animal and confine it to living in conditions it would run from if it could, just to serve our curiosity, we then subject the beast to the best human specimens - paying customers. We throw things in its "habitat", mock it, scream or call to it (To show our brave superiority from outside the cage). Finally our 'HERO" appears, a man brave (drunk) enough to walk with the animals, just for a photo opportunity. 'I couldn't get that picture with Madonna, her security team took me out before I could get within 50 yards but, this bear. . . he's not nearly tht famous and all he's got is this stupid old fence. Once I get over it I'm sure he'll be proud to take a picture with me!' The bear with all it's years of pent up anger and rage. For all he knows it's the same person day after day, we all look the same to him. Finally he gets his paws on his tormentor . . . the rest, we say, is history. Or at least, in this case, news. And, sadly enough, not even front page news, or second, wow, or third.
Oh and by the way, to all you genius' out there, BEARS are HERBOVORS (with the exception of Polar Bears). That is to say , they don't typically eat meat, they don't hunt for food, they forage and occasionally fish. They will, to protect their territory, maul any intruders. By maul we mean to claw, bite or crush. NOT TO EAT. So Kurt, they did not get an early meal, But we can hope about that stupid gene theory. Do you have kids? DOH! And Sharon, come on, did you ever get a buzz from "drunken man meat"? Think people, THINK!!!
The lesson that we can all learn is that it is not how much you drink ,it is what happens to us when we do drink.
Stupid is as stupid does.
Stupid people do this all the time.Then the want to sue the zoos(here in america)or cry to have the animals put down awhen its there own falt.aevery zoo ai know have gates and posted stay out.Stupid people dont listen or ignore signs.They get what they deserve.
what a stupid man! he goes and gets drunk, then goes to a zoo?! there are children, and other innocent people who had to watch this awefull scene! he was stupid enough to climb the fence, he was stupid enough to go to the zoo, DRUNK,and he was stupid enough to get drunk. maybe if he had some common sense, and didnt get drunk in the middle of the day, he would still be alive! and yet some people seem to think it was the BEARS fault?! what is up with that?! that area where the man fell into BELONGED to the bears, it was their HOME! they are not just going to sit there and watch an intruder walk alover their home! it's like some random person breaking into your home, your not going to let them walk around, no, your going to defend yourself, your family, your property, your dignity. x
I guess nobody commenting on the incident have ever done something stupid whilst drunk. I am sure the man never would of put himself in the situation if he knew what was going to happen. Just another reason to reinstate prohibition in the states. Some write about family and children, but the real threat is when your child comes of age and does something just as stupid because his judgement is impaired by alchohol. And as far as the two bears--take a shotgun to their heads. I am all for the practicing of our place on the food chain. Add a couple more bears to the hunt as far as I am conerned.
Bears 1......stupid 0
First off C.T. YOU ARE A ASS. Mike you right on it i could not of said it better.I hope my son grows up to think like you.
The solution is simple! Close all zoos!!!! They are dated and cruel!
Grace- I don't share you simple solution. Without some zoos, certain species WOULD be extinct. The help some zoos provide for injured or diseased wild animals is instrumental in the survival of those species. Don't forget animals that are captured and raised as pets then released in foreign habitats, they find a haven in some zoos. What would you do with all those animals? Your view may be current, but you are just as cruel, . . so now where are we? t.c. and C.T- Ironic, isn't it?, opposite opinions and reverse initials. C.T.- Contrary to popular misconception, we (and I am assuming here) as Humans, are not at the top of the food chain!! Without tools, i.e. weapons, and the knowledge and skills to use them, we would be, well, dinner. t.c.- Thank you for your kind words, but . . be careful what you wish/hope for. Do you watch House? Also, I AM sure you could have said it better. Finally, do you have a son already or was that a propagational hint?
Mike - posting info from an organisation of which I'm a member. The conservation con "Zoos make much of the tiny numbers of animals reintroduced into the wild, but reintroduction opportunities are nearly always flawed or impractical". Roger Mugford, Consultant Animal Psychologist to CAPS. Reintroducing animals to the wild Of the 5,926 species (mammals, birds, reptiles and others) classified as threatened or endangered by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature, only around 120 species are involved in international zoo breeding programs, and from these just 16 species have been reintroduced to the wild... with varying degrees of success. The costs, both financial and to the animals themselves, of captive breeding conservation programmes are astronomically high. For example, when the black footed ferret was reintroduced to the wild under a programme supervised by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service, the eventual cost was estimated to be around $400,000 per individual survivor! Added to this was the cost in suffering to the animals. Reintroduced ferret populations can experience a mortality rate as high as 90% during the first year of release. And of those reared in indoor cages, up to 91% may die within the first year of release. (*a) In a South American zoo programme, this time involving the golden lion tamarin (a primate), death rates were also high. Of over 100 golden lion tamarins released into the wild, only about 30 survived. While their offspring fared somewhat better, there were other more significant problems for the programme. In 1991 a zoo bred tamarin, awaiting release to the wild, was found to be carrying the lethal arenavirus. This virus was unknown in the locality and could have devastated the wild population of tamarins and other primate species which would have lacked any immunity to it. The virus may have been spread to the zoo tamarins by mice which they were fed on while in captivity. The infected tamarin had been just 3 days away from release when diagnosed... (*b) During the 1980's, Gopher tortoises were released into the wild in California. A virus present in the tortoises resulted in the deaths of an estimated 40,000 wild desert tortoises. (*c) Arabian oryx were bred in captivity and released into the wild at an estimated cost of twenty-five million dollars. Recent information received suggests that the animals are again being poached in the wild, ironically to supply zoos. Preventing the loss of oryx is not easy while there is an international demand for captive animals, and the illegal trade can be highly profitable. Since 1996, more than 40 oryx have been smuggled from Oman, to be sold to private zoos and animal collectors. In 1990 one of London Zoo's oryx was found to have developed BSE. The latest research into this disease indicates that it can be passed on from parent to offspring, which raises the worrying question:- Could reintroduced Oryx have BSE? Arabian oryx have also been found to have TB, which can spread between species. In the 1980's the numbers of oryx in a Saudi Arabian captive breeding programme were drastically reduced because of TB. Conservation - the way forward? Trying to restock the wild is costly, flawed and impractical. Animals must be conserved in the wild, thereby protecting not just single species - as practised by zoos - but whole eco-systems. Vast amounts of money - the global zoo budget is thought to be $500 million dollars - are used to keep and breed animals in captivity. This could be used for conservation in the wild, protecting both the animals and their habitat. Money could be better spent: Establishing protected reserves:- Animals should be kept as near as possible to their natural habitat. Funding anti-poaching patrols:- Money is required for even the most basic of equipment such as clothing and transport for wardens, boats, aircraft, fencing etc. In education:- By educating local people to value and protect their wildlife, and teaching them the importance of conservation. Lobbying for legislation to protect wildlife:- Wild animals are killed for fur, ivory, horn, body parts for medicines, ornaments and sporting trophies. References: *a: Stefan Ormrod 'Zoo Biz' 1994 *b: Stefan Ormrod 'Zoo Biz' 1994 *c: BBC Wildlife Magazine 'Showboat as Ark', Stefan Ormrod '94
This of course is unfortunate but as long as people have an access to get that close to the animals, these kinds of things will continue to happen. This is one of many incidents that have taken place, a man attacked by a panda a women attacked by a polar bear a little boy falls into a gorilla encosure, two men gain access to a bengal tiger enclosure and are mauled and one of the men dies as a result. And I'm sure the list goes on and on and will continue to go on and on. As long there is access to these enclosures, some person or persons will continue to entertain us with their gruesome death or near death experience involving these awesome powerful creatures.Their no joke, these animals can and will kill you. Why? Because they are carnivoric predaters.