The “Domestication” of Wild Animals: A Lesson That Won’t be Learned
by Keeping a animal that is meant to be wild? Might as well be keeping a ticking time bomb in your home.
Image by doug88888 via Flickr
What Charla Nash did on November 11, 2009 was nothing less of a brave act. Even though she herself couldn’t see the extent of her injuries, she took of her veil and revealed the aftermath of that unexpected and horrendous attack; knowing that photos of her face would be posted all over the Internet for millions to see. Then there are those individuals who are so eager to jump on the bandwagon complaining how cruel it was to ask Nash to remove that veil, but it was necessary in order to get the message across:if you decide to bring an animal that was never meant to be domesticated or socialized into an human environment, expect dire and potentially fatal consequences. Unfortunately, the message will go unheeded. People will continue to make dangerous animal into house pets.
The Appeal
There might be many different reasons why anyone would allow such animals into their homes. One of them is vanity. For some, being the “master” of a powerful animal(e.g. a tiger) is a huge ego booster. The animal is a symbol for them…and is treated as such. While others have the belief that the animal will have a better quality of life living with humans. And of course those people who are foolish enough to think it would be fun to have a wild animal. Whatever the reasons may be the fact of the matter is that the nature of the animal is being ignored.
Taking the beast out of the wild,but not the wild out of the beast
When Sandra and her husband Jerome Herod adopted their chimpanzee,which they named Travis, I can bet money that they knew nothing about the darker side of his nature. Adult chimpanzees particularly males, can be very aggressive and are highly territorial. Chimpanzees also engage in targeted hunting of lower order primates such as the Western Red Colobusand bush babies, and use the meat from these kills as a “social tool” within their community. Male chimpanzees are known to form gangs to assault other groups or individuals and then return home. There reason for such behavior may be the same when human males do the same; pride for one’s home turf and antipathy for others. Another explanation for violence against humans perpetrated by chimpanzees is because many chimps perceive human beings as potential rivals (not at all surprising due to the fact that they are our closest living relatives). With up to five times the upper body strength of a human, an angered chimpanzee could easily overpower and kill a grown man.
Despite consent warnings from wildlife experts on the high dangers of keeping exotic and dangerous animals as pest, the appeal of having one will once again override human judgement. The only way to aviod future conflicts is if humanity learn to love and admire these creatures from afar, away from our homes and leave them exactly where they will be happy-in the wild parts of the world.
One other factor people have to understand is that the animal may not be happy in a human environment and that can cause some underlying resentment.
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