March 20, 2007

Protect The Polar Bears By Killing Them

Animal-rights activists serve often as examples of unintended humor, but perhaps none more so than the protectors of nonhumans in Germany. Incensed that a zoo acted to save the life of a polar-bear cub abandoned by its mother, they have demanded that the zoo kill the cub -- in order to comply with animal protection statutes:

A fluffy polar bear cub called Knut, who has become a media celebrity, should be given a lethal injection according to German zoologists, who say he has become too dependent on humans.

Their controversial claims have provoked a public outcry and a debate about the treatment of zoo animals.

The male cub is the first baby polar bear to survive in Berlin zoo for 30 years. After he was born on December 5 last year, his mother, Tosca, a grumpy 20-year-old former East German circus bear, put Knut and his brother out to die on a rock in the bear pit. Keepers scooped the cubs out of the compound with a fishing net and placed them in an incubator. ...

“Hand-feeding is not appropriate to the species and is a grave violation of the animal protection laws,” said Frank Albrecht, an animal rights campaigner. “Legally speaking, the zoo should kill the baby bear. Otherwise it is condemning the bear to a dysfunctional life and that too is a breach of the law.”

The director of Aachen zoo, Wolfram Ludwig, also believes the Berliners made the wrong decision in saving Knut: “It is not correct to bottle-feed a small polar bear. He will always be fixated on his keeper and will never grow to be a proper polar bear.” Knut, he argues, should have been killed when Tosca rejected him. “One should have had the courage to kill him much earlier.”

Someone will have to explain the concept of euthanizing an animal to protect it. Protect it from what -- other animal-rights activists? If Knut could understand the controversy, he'd wonder whose side the animal-rights activists are really on.

Perpetuating species, especially endangered species, provides one of the main reason for the existence of zoos. Polar bears do not mate well in zoos anyway, and when they do, only about half of the cubs survive. The Times of London reports that only 34 have survived over the past 50 years, a rather discouraging record. When one appears on the brink of death and the mother wants nothing to do with it, it makes sense to try to save it rather than let it die out of some odd sense of inauthenticity.

The keepers of the Berlin Zoo took the humane step of preserving Knut's life. Killing him now would serve no purpose and bring no benefit to the species. He will be unsuitable for return to the wild, but it doesn't appear that his parents Tosca and Lars will be going back there, either. Should the zoo kill them as well? How about every other animal that will not get released into nature?

With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators?

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» Animal rights activists to baby polar bear: Drop dead! from This isn’t writing, it’s typing.
Okay, the animal rights movement has officially jumped the shark (er, polar bear). From the London Daily Mail:Tiny, fluffy and adorable, Knut the baby polar bear became an animal superstar after he was abandoned by his mother. He rapidly became the sym... [Read More]

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» Animal rights activists to baby polar bear: Drop dead! from This isn’t writing, it’s typing.
Okay, the animal rights movement has officially jumped the shark (er, polar bear). From the London Daily Mail:Tiny, fluffy and adorable, Knut the baby polar bear became an animal superstar after he was abandoned by his mother. He rapidly became the sym... [Read More]

» "Not to represent patients in a stigmatized way" from sisu
Fans agree Germany's polar-bear cub too cute to kill. It's a start, but common sense and common decency are no guarantee. With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators? asks Captain Ed rhetorically re the save the village by [Read More]

» "Not to represent patients in a stigmatized way" from sisu
Fans agree Germany's polar-bear cub too cute to kill. It's a start, but common sense and common decency are no guarantee. With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators? asks Captain Ed rhetorically re the save the village by [Read More]

» "Not to represent patients in a stigmatized way" from sisu
Fans agree Germany's polar-bear cub too cute to kill. It's a start, but common sense and common decency are no guarantee. With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators? asks Captain Ed rhetorically re the save the village by [Read More]

» "Not to represent patients in a stigmatized way" from sisu
Fans agree Germany's polar-bear cub too cute to kill. It's a start, but common sense and common decency are no guarantee. With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators? asks Captain Ed rhetorically re the save the village by [Read More]

Comments (9)

Posted by stackja1945 [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 6:08 AM

With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators? Those who seek to extend the practice to humans.

Posted by Mat [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 6:23 AM

What you're talking about here is a larger version of the child keeping a bird with a broken wing in a shoebox under their bed to "get better", thus leaving the poor creature to die in agony. What they mean by "condemning the bear to a dysfunctional life" is that, quite simply, this cub is destined to go insane. And insane animals in zoos are a horrific and all-too-common sight (hint: if the animal constantly paces up and down, no, that's not "normal", any more than it would be for a human). Clearly polar bears don't react very well to captivity under the best of circumstances, and these are far from the best of circumstances. I have trouble imagining a more destructive animal than an insane fully-grown polar bear, which means in practice the zoo will have to kill the bear anyway, eventually. But in the meantime he will suffer a heart-breakingly miserable life.

Protecting the species is irrelevant. This cub is never going to be able to reproduce, even if he grows to adulthood. And keeping animals in zoos isn't any kind of substitute for preservation of a wild ecosystem, especially in cases like this where the zoo population can't even be self-sustaining.

Please don't second-guess the professionals. (It's not just "animal rights activists" who are objecting: it's mainly zoologists and zookeepers). They know, from bitter experience, exactly what happens when you try to tame a wild animal. They know what's best for their charges far better than you ever will from reading about them in a newspaper. And it's precisely because Knut is oh-so-baby-cute that it's necessary to have strict rules to ensure that the right, tough decisions get made.

Posted by BarCodeKing [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 6:40 AM

Frank and Wolfram are Dummkopfen. You dont "burn down the village in order to save it," and you don't kill animals in order to save them, either. The cub is living in a ZOO, for Pete's sake! He's not going to live on the polar ice when he grows up, so what does it matter if he's bottle-fed or not? Is he going to go out and hunt his own food after he's weaned? I have nothing good to say about Frank and Wolfram.

Posted by PersonFromPorlock [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 7:18 AM

I'm obscurely reminded of John Anderson, who, during his 1980 Presidential campaign debate with Reagan, defended abortion on the grounds that an "unborn child has a right to be wanted."

Posted by Mark [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 8:36 AM

Gee, Mat, Your absolutely right. Luckily for the California Condor, there were a few idiots who thought different. As for never being able to reproduce, there is a little known technique called Artificial Insemination. I first learned of this technique reading James Herriot's books. He has a hilarious story of his first attempt using this technique on a rather annoyed Bull. Wasn't bad enough that the Bull took umbrage at Dr. Herriot's attempts to slide a 'Sleeve' over the Bulls business end as he attempted to perform his manly duties on a rather comely cow. But Tristin, his helper, had filled the sleeve with boiling water, rather than warm water! When Herriot finally succeeded, the Bull was quite impressed! Luckily, the state of the art has advanced since that time. I, for one, would not want to be the one to try to slip the 'sleeve' over a Polar Bear!

Posted by Ned [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 9:05 AM

Should the zoo kill them as well?

Be careful what you say, Captain. You gotta remember these are Germans you are talking about

Posted by Cindy [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 9:12 AM

"With animal-rights activists like this, what animal needs predators?"

Ed - you start with the faulty assumption that animal "rights" activists actually give a flying fig about the animals, which they don't! I am an ex-PETA/Doris Day Animal League member and I know first hand what their long term agenda is - the total elimination of animals. Because if we turn them "all" back to the wild "where they belong" as some claim they want, well we will have over population and starvation and illness of unimaginable proportions!

Don't be fooled - the animal rights movement doesn't care about animal welfare. They only care about telling the rest of us what to eat and what to wear and what to have in our homes and generally dictating what we can do with our lives.....

Typical left fascists.....

LL

Posted by lexhamfox [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 9:45 AM

Sorry Ed. I enjoy zoos as much as anyone else does but there is something terrible about seeing bears in captivity. Even a fine zoo like San Diego which lavishes wonderful care on its animals and makes every effort to create a natural and happy environment for its animals has problems with Polar Bears. They are natural roamers and suffer terribly in captivity even when raised within the confines of the zoo. Go to your local zoo and you will see the Polar Bear pacing uncontrollably in a sorry dance. Its heartbreaking to see and it is hard to walk away without feeling that the animals are better off being put down or released back into their dwindling natural habitat. You are quite right to point out the important role that zoos play in reasearch and maintaining tyhe viability of rare species but not in the case of these wonderful animals.

Posted by Bostonian [TypeKey Profile Page] | March 20, 2007 4:41 PM

It makes no sense to kill a zoo animal that isn't suffering.

Progressives do indeed have a culture of death.