Recovered King Of Beasts Returns To His Home, Thanks To Unique Operation

[Orstio]

http://www.everything-science.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=122&Itemid=2

Samson the lion from the Hai-Kef zoo in Rishon Lezion, Israel, who had undergone a brain operation – unique in the world -- at the Veterinary Teaching Hospital of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, has recuperated and has returned to his cage and to his sister, Delilah.

Samson the lion, showing some of his old feistiness after his operation. (Petnet photo)[/em][/strong]

“The meeting between Samson and his sister Delilah was joyous and emotional,” said the director of the zoo, Bezalel Porath. “Samson now has many visitors. We also received letters from kindergartens and telephone calls from many who inquired about his welfare. I want to thank the enti. . .

[Sarah90]

Not sure how this will be received...I understand that creatures need to be saved in our world...but, can't cope with the fact that these magnificent animals are...caged...to be saved ?   I know I know...many species are dying...and many are tagged so we know how they are...but I question this...Is it because we want to have control ?  ...or is it because we 'feel responsible'  ...or, what ?

[greenleaf1]

This statement:

This type of damage is known to occur in lions living in captivity

makes me think - there's got to be a better way...

[Astronuc]

Imagine if one had to spend everyday in one's own home, never to go outside, or even one was confined to one's room for 30 years.  That is what a caged animal faces it's entire life.

Wild animals need wild places, with 10's or 100's of square miles to roam.

Hey, that's what I need too.   

[Orstio]

Wild animals need wild places, with 10's or 100's of square miles to roam.

I have trouble with the term "wild animals".  What differentiates a wild animal from any other sort of animal?

Is it the fact that if it were not caged, it could be potentially dangerous to humans?  If not, then could we not say a goldfish is just as wild an animal as a lion?

The term "wild" when referring to animals is a human-created paradigm.  I do not believe that horses, dogs, cats, sheep, bears, goats, chickens, pigs, lions, rabbits, elephants, emus, elk, or zebras really care for our distinction of what is "wild" and what is not.

That said, I do believe that all animals, including humans, need a suitable environment in order to survive.  The suitability depends on each animal individually, however, not on a human-created paradigm.

[Astronuc]

The world needs human-free zones, where the animals can roam for miles without human contact.   

I think it would be cool to designate half of Western Australia as non-human refuge and have a reserve for cats like cheetahs and leopards, with their natural prey, e.g. small antelope.

[Orstio]

That's not the case with all animals.  Raccoons, for example, seem to thrive in urban and suburban human communities.  Groups of black bears have been known to live quite well near or even in urban human communities.  There is a species of swallow called the barn swallow that has completely adapted to life with humans:  They will not build their nests on anything but a man-made structure.  Here in Manitoba, the white-tail deer over-populate and starve to death without the careful conservation in the form of the annual hunting season.

Human influence is inevitable, and not always detrimental.  It is important to remember that we are just as much a part of the environment as everything else.  There are animals (particularly the big cats) that would certainly benefit from less human influence, but there is another side to the coin as well.

[Astronuc]

We see that here too.

We had a moose swimming down the river.  It apparently came from Vermont.

Then we had a yearling black bear show up in the city.  Of course, the police panicked and shot the bear.  There aren't too many black bears around here anymore.

We also have over-population of deer.

And the skunks, possums and racoons seem to do quite well.

It's definitely not like it used to be.

[Sarah90]

"What differentiates a wild animal from any other sort of animal?"  ... one that runs free in its own place without intervention.
"That said, I do believe that all animals, including humans, need a suitable environment in order to survive.  The suitability depends on each animal individually, however, not on a human-created paradigm."

That's the one !  Regardless of those creatures that have become ...accustomed to human closeness... those that have constant intervention in the name of 'save the species'  - which - understood, thousands of species of animals, birds, insects,  are lost every minute...However, the question is: how much human intervention is actually necessary, and how much is 'control' , as in 'capture and ...put under a microscope for our own (human ) need to understand who we are and how to survive.   (Am not wording this very well...it's evolving as I'm trying to understand my own question... )