Do we underestimate animals?

dogs and polar bear - dogs playing with polar bears
@polachicago (18716)
United States
March 21, 2008 10:22pm CST
I was watching movie today about polar bear playing with husky dogs. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JE-Nyt4Bmi8&feature=related I was reading about Zimbabwe and Victoria Falls where people are walking with lions. http://www.antelopepark.co.zw/ Are animals better than we think?
6 people like this
4 responses
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Hello polachicago!:-) Thank you for sharing that amazing video, I really loved it. It's good to see the softer side of these predators. Well, they do have softer side. What I learnt earlier in my life is that, most (yes, most) of the time, animals only attack when they feel threatened and when they are on defensive. It's the threat they take issue with and fight back not their lust to kill. And, that includes the fiercest predators like lions, Cheetahs, Leopards, Tigers and such, there are exceptions though and one needs to be very careful. One also need to know their nature, if one knows it, one may avoid attack even if one is offensive. I remember watching a documentary where a husband and a wife were climbing tress after Cheetahs to catch them by bare hands. As to your other link, I have seen it but they offer walk with "cubs" not full grown lions, which is quite understandable and sane. Plus, they are tamed too, still one needs to be careful and for that they keep experienced guides and skilled trainers in vicinity. Thanks for sharing!:-) Just to add that one should always be careful even with tamed animals, I would like to share a video here. A close acquaintance of my father, Baba sada’a, has his own pair of Lions. I have personally seen them many times. Following is a video of one of them, who attacked a boy 'because' he felt threatened! WARNING: don’t watch if you can’t see a Lion’s attack even though no body was hurt at the end! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jhhd1Vl4wH0
3 people like this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
23 Mar 08
I watched the video. I will tell you, my dogs would bite if that many hands reached for them. You could easy see that those boys don't pay attention at lion, but camera. With big cats, owner(leader) need to be present when introducing other people. Common sense is not always common sense for many people. Like I said, my dogs wouldn't let 10 hands to pet them...eventually...they would bite...so did lion...
2 people like this
@kamran12 (5526)
• Pakistan
23 Mar 08
Polachicago, normally you could be right but in this case, number of people patting are not the reason. The reason is that he was threatened. He is a very friendly male and his master doesn’t need to be present. He has tolerated much more people than there were boys in this clip. They were two actually and they were there almost since their birth. They have grown fully in humans. “This” IS a fully grown lion you can walk with, without any fear!
2 people like this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
23 Mar 08
You are right, I watch the video again....the lion feels defended himself...
1 person likes this
@LittleMel (8742)
• Canada
14 May 08
animals don't know politics. they don't say one thing and do another, their actions are their words. have you ever heard this saying that a mother tiger won't eat her cub even in desperate times? yet how many times have we heard news about human babies abandoned to die? the worst of all is that those who have no money do not have the means to survive and those with money will manipulate them, thus the rich gets richer and the poor stays that way or gets poorer.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
14 May 08
You are right LittleMel, animals are much better than humans...
@blackbriar (9075)
• United States
25 Mar 08
Surprisingly, animals of different species can get along in some situations. Back when I was letting my cats go outside, I would often find them playing, yes playing with skunks and racoons at night. I found my one cat even playing with a fox pup and possum. It truly amazed me that they all got along even thou they aren't supposed to.
1 person likes this
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Mar 08
Isn't it wired? I know they can. Maybe they are more friendly when not hungry? HUGS
1 person likes this
@pyewacket (43903)
• United States
25 Mar 08
It doesn't surprise me to see videos where two completely different species of animals can interact with one another without the one being a predator and the other prey. What comes to mind is the classic story of Koko the gorilla whose playmates were kittens and he was always very tame and gentle how he handled them...think of it...a gorilla has the strength to kill a human...yet be gentle with a kitten? Too bad humans don't get along as well with one another
@polachicago (18716)
• United States
26 Mar 08
Isn't that right about humans? this is what I was thinking about. I just learned about crime in South Africa and my heart is going 200 miles per hour, hard to sleep knowing how people can torture and kill other people without the reason.
1 person likes this