can u believe this? how could they?

Question

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/17703212/?GT1=9145

i just thought i was wrong to kill a cub...mother refuesed or not they are endangered and need a captive breeding group if all the wild polar bears die off they could be gone forever....some animal activist are crazy.

http://66.218.71.231/language/translation/translatedPage.php?tt=url&text=http%3a//www.zoo-berlin.de/&lp=de_en&.intl=us&fr=slv8-msgr

this is the zoo's home page traslated as its in germany. looking to see whats going on with cub

Answer 1

It boggles the mind doesn't it? I totally agree...some animal activist are just plain nuts! I know a few of these over zealous types, and one actually admitted to me that it was more about making the headlines than about the welfare of the individual animal. Some have even gone to some really disgustingly drastic tactics to make their point. IE...one group who was protesting our annual duck hunt shot a swan and then paraded around with it's carcass screaming how wrong the hunt was! Of course, they didn't say they were the ones that shot it. That came out much later. I really have a problem with these green terrorist! Most of them wouldn't know which end of that polar bear to stick the bottle in!

Answer 2

I agree, some activists take it too far, although I dont think the majority would agree with killing the cub.

I couldn't tell from the story whether the cub was born into captivity or not. If it was, and I think it was, then there is absolutely no reason not to hand rear it, as it would be dependant on humans any way, and was probably rejected due to the mother not knowing how to rear her cub, or being stressed by captivity.

If it was born into the the wild, then there is a little bit more of an ethical problem- the mother may have returned, and the cub MAY have survived- but probably not in which case why not bring him in.

The trouble with polar bears is that their environment is very harsh, and they need to be taught very specialist skills to survive in it. If you released a captive reared polar bear into the wild, there is very little chance of it surviving, whether hand reared or not (although hand rearing would have even less of a chance).

As polar bears are solitary, the only way opportunity they will have to learn is from their mother, or if they come across successful techniques on their own by chance.

Even if they had the opportunity to be taught by a wild born mother (if so why are they in captivity?) they would need to be in a huge enclosure, deep snowfalls, an ice sheet and seals! Unless someone has an Artic site fitting this description and someone is prepared to live like a polar bear to teach them, release programs will not work.

As it is extremely unlikely captive reared polar bears will survive in the wild, breeding programs are of limited use. The only other possible use of captive bears in helping to save the polar bear species is in providing sperm with which to fertilise wild females.

The problem is bad. Life as a polar bear is tough, even in the wild, with full maternal training, about half of all polar bear cubs dont last their first year on the ice. Theres little we can do to help, and its getting worse. The Artic is melting as the world warms up. The polar bears world is changing, and it is becoming harder and harder to survive.

What can we do? We can try and give them the best chance possible, and do what we can not to make life harder for them.

1) People to never shoot or remove healthy individuals from the wild.
2) Their food sources to be protected- this means no seal hunts in polar bear lands, and protecting the fish stocks by stopping overfishing.
3) Action to slow global warming NOW. Even if the natural earth/sun cycles have a part to play; our release of carbon dioxide is sure to play a BIG part, and trying to stop it by reducing energy usage and switching to renewables can only be a good thing.

However, this doesnt mean captive bears should be killed! If the zoos will keep them in humane conditions (which means nowhere warm) they can act as ambassadors for their species, and if the worst comes to the worst and they become extinct in the wild, they can be a grim reminder of what we have lost.

So next time you think about taking the car, or turning the heating up, remember the polar bears, sitting in a melting world.

Answer 3

Just like some "human rights" activists, some "animal rights" activists think it is better to kill the young of a mother who can't or won't care for them. Who cares that there are others who want to do it?
You have to be careful, I guess, in trusting people who claim to support "rights."