Endangered species: us
Here’s some unasked-for-advice about what to do when you want to pet a tiger: don’t.
A woman was killed this week by a tiger at the Siberian Magic farm near Vancouver when she got too close to it. You know, there’s a reason the big zoos keep these animals in caged enclosures. For most of human history, tigers considered us to be lunch. Some still haven’t gotten the message yet.
I heard a survey on the radio that 89 per cent of Vancouverites were opposed to keeping exotic animals. Frankly, I’m amazed the number is that low.
Think of it this way – 28% of Americans still support George W. Bush, despite the overwhelming evidence of incompetence and corruption in his administration.
As one blogger pointed out during the 2004 presidential campaign:
Surveys consistently show that about 25% of Americans believe in completely unproven things such as Angels, UFOs, Ghosts, ESP, etc.
Thus, there is a solid 25-30% of the population that is stupid enough to believe in anything.
In Canada, this number is probably slightly lower. (Although sadly, not by much).
With 11% of the population thinking that exotic pets are alright, we aren’t all that bad. (ie: there’s a lot of stupid people out there).
I’m amazed that there are still people who try to keep this wild animals as pets. I don’t even like them at the zoo. Have you been to the Abbotsford Zoo? I went a couple of years ago and they have some lions and tigers and a panther in captivity. It’s just sad. They’re so out of place up here. I also saw they ended up having to put that tiger down after this. What a waste.
I was amazed to learn that there are no provincial or national laws on keeping exotic pets. Which begs the question – where do people get these animals from, and are they even acquiring them legally?