Primates in the news

[gearHed289]

Uwe, that was very disturbing. They didn't even cook it, let alone marinate. 

[Rob]

It is syndicated, but it was originally created for that Oregon dealership.

Anyway, since John needs something for his chimp fixation, here's a nice video of chimps at the L. A. Zoo.

I still enjoy the utility of Trunk Monkey

[Denis]

Christ, I wish I hadn't watched that video, Uwe. And it takes a lot to gross me out. The stupid baboon went straight for the gazelle's anus and genitals. I really don't like monkeys, chimps or baboons anyway. Orangutans and gorillas are okay.

[Highlander]

There was an expression I heard - "God is a kid with an ant farm and a magnifying glass" - most of us tend to anthropomorphize creatures attributes and believe in empathy - the baboon had no empathy with the life it was ending; it could not care less about the pain it was causing another living, breathing creature; it was just eating... God is dead...

All animals know fear - just visit a slaughterhouse and even we can smell an animal's fear... my first visit was at age 4.

The only other video I regret having seen (as it is now so fixed in my psyche, as is this, especially reaching into the gazelle's body cavity and removing what looked like it's heart or liver) was a South African "funny" where the "punch line" was a husband trying to read the paper whilst his wife billowed and cooed over a baby chicken that was standing on the table in front of them both - he took one look at the chick and with one disdainful look and one powerful blow made it disappear with the palm of his hand, then went back to reading his paper...

I am sure there are plenty of other things out there waiting to disturb me...

[nofi]

i refuse to watch that crap. seeing animals kill each other is not my idea of entertainment.

[Highlander]

+1

[uwe]

i refuse to watch that crap. seeing animals kill each other is not my idea of entertainment.

I agree for fights among animals staged by man (cock- and dogfights etc), but where death is part of nature, I'm not offended. Baboons - like chimps - go hunting in packs, kill and eat. Here, that poor baby gazelle was unlucky and did not get killed quickly properly - not excessive cruelty of the baboon, but just a coincidence. Besides, a lot of carnivores have no issue with eating their prey live, here the disturbing moment comes from the fact that we see an animal do it that is closer related to us than, say, a snake or a shark.

[Denis]

I think I may dislike monkeys because they remind me of some people at times. How's that for cynical? 

[Highlander]

I don't consider it "offensive" to be viewable, per-se, just disturbing; a bit like the rubberneckers post an accident: human-nature to look...

No lock-out on the imagery, but if you try and view footage of a slaughterhouse you get blocked unless you're signed in...

[jumbodbassman]

been to a cattle, hog and chicken slaughter houses numerous times over the last 30 years or so as a banker.       something you don't easily forget.  first few times it actually affected what i ate for a period of time.  kind of gets easier and last time had almost none as I ate ribs that evening.  then again the kill techniques have changed some through the yers.  nough said!!!

[Dave W]

Bump for today's chimp news: ice cream for breakfast

Now you know what to do if surrounded. 

[Highlander]

As a relative used to say... do you fancy a nice scream...?

AAAAAARRRRRRGGGHHHHHHH!!!

Was that nice enough...?

[Pilgrim]

"A zoo defused a potential mass chimpanzee escape by coaxing the animals back into their enclosure with ice cream and fizzy drinks."

That would work with a lot of human groups, too.

In my video production work with agriculture, I've been in chicken processing and beef processing facilities and had a very close view of the processes there - it reminds me that "parts is parts".  Electrical stimulation of beef carcasses to speed the tenderization process isn't something they generally allow to be video recorded...but I've BTDT.

Afterwards, I went out and had a burger.  I recognize that this is part of a commercial process.  As long as it's carried out within appropriate humane and ethical grounds, I'm OK with it.

BTW - if you've heard of a lady named Temple Grandin (subject of a 2010 movie, http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1278469/ and a faculty member here at Colorado State), she's an autistic lady who is one of the foremost figures in humane livestock handling.  One of her focuses is handling animals to diminish the fear they experience.