tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post5001380847260477309..comments2024-03-19T06:40:22.220-04:00Comments on The EEB & Flow: Predator-human conflict: the emergence of a primordial fear?Marc Cadottehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/08335319636148357534noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-9009334482354110742011-09-28T14:09:38.226-04:002011-09-28T14:09:38.226-04:00People when they start to fear. They start to do s...People when they start to fear. They start to do something really awful. I hope that they don't start to hunt it.xlpharmacy couponshttp://www.xlpharmacy.com/coupons.phpnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-31997335358737868862011-08-22T12:28:02.154-04:002011-08-22T12:28:02.154-04:00There is something terrifying and at the same time...There is something terrifying and at the same time captivating about the idea of a large, wild, mysterious predatorProstrate Surgeryhttp://www.prostratesurgery.netnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-3836577308976869722010-02-25T14:33:04.451-05:002010-02-25T14:33:04.451-05:00p.s. - The Lions of Tsavo is also an interesting b...p.s. - The Lions of Tsavo is also an interesting book that relates to this issue.Bob Millernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-73912452168663910422010-02-25T14:25:59.565-05:002010-02-25T14:25:59.565-05:00It's certainly true that we need to make bette...It's certainly true that we need to make better decisions about development to minimize these kind of encounters. However, that doesn't mean the response to these killings was wrong. The analogy to the volcano is false. If people could plug up volcanoes, they most certainly would. If you were against plugging them up because of some concern about the continued existence of volcanoes, then yes, you would be labeled pro-volcano and anti-human. Anti-human is not a self-loathing phrase, it is a pejorative term thrown by those who see themselves on the side of humans against something. If you believed that a common species like a coyote who killed someone should be left alone, then that might be interpreted as self-loathing. I agree that the repeated killing tendency needs to be critically evaluated for each species, but I think it is pretty well established for some predators like lions and tigers (e.g. check out Man-eaters of Kumaon by Jim Corbett, not the science lit but pretty compelling). Obviously it is not likely for other species like rattlesnakes, which might be more comparable with a non-sentient volcano.Bob Millernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-88618685302751033072010-02-25T13:45:59.284-05:002010-02-25T13:45:59.284-05:00Thanks for your comment Bob, surely a controversia...Thanks for your comment Bob, surely a controversial issue. I think that the 'once a human attacker, forever a human attacker' is an interesting empirical issue, which for most animal attacks can never actually be verified -most are killed (in North America anyway) and we have legendary stories about Man-killing lions (rogue males without hunting prides). <br /><br />As thinking animals, I would counter, that the responsibility is with us to better manage human-nature conflicts. We are the ones who make conscious decisions about where and how to live. I don't see that as anti-human (a weird, self-loathing phrase), just as trying to make the best decisions while balancing multiple competing interests. I hope people wouldn't be pegged as pro-volcano and anti-human if they suggested people refrain from building homes at the base of a volncano.Marc Cadottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335319636148357534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-6574665376128631672010-02-25T13:24:58.241-05:002010-02-25T13:24:58.241-05:00The answers to your questions, particularly the fi...The answers to your questions, particularly the first one, are very simple, I think. Why do we destroy predators that attack? This is what any animal in our position, as a thinking animal with the capability to do it, would do. It is what people in Africa, who are intimately connected with nature, have been doing for thousands of years. It is a purely rational decision in favor of our species. The only reason not to destroy the predator would be on the basis of aesthetics, or some idea of a resultant loss or change in the ecosystem. The latter would only hold if the predator was in danger of extinction locally or globally, not the case with any of the species and places involved here. The rationality of the decision is further upheld by the fact that many individual predators that attack humans once will do so again. This is not surprising considering we are so abundant as well as easy prey, and the same pattern is true for cattle etc. I would argue that confounding aesthetics (or in cases of the more devout animal rights activists, rights) with ecological concern will not gain any friends for conservation among the public. <br /><br />Many irrational animal fears need to be countered, and should be, but once you have an individual predator that is not endangered attacking humans, the situation changes. To argue otherwise is to undermine credibility and reinforce the stereotype of conservationists being anti-human.Bob Millernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-59524002365303131242010-02-20T12:50:30.117-05:002010-02-20T12:50:30.117-05:00Thanks Tadeu,
'Eye for an eye' justice is ...Thanks Tadeu,<br />'Eye for an eye' justice is a great context for this type of response. <br />MarcMarc Cadottehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08335319636148357534noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3164804243040726299.post-52587373878989249372010-02-20T12:41:24.156-05:002010-02-20T12:41:24.156-05:00Maybe this has something to do with the "an e...Maybe this has something to do with the "an eye for an eye" principle that inhabits the mind of many. Although, nobody died in the recent cougar cases. I'm surprise that this happens in Canada. To me it is like a death penalty (still in practice in some countries), but without going to the cort.<br />Here in Brazil this also happens, but sometimes the animal does not even have to attack. In some regions they are killed just because they might be dangerous. In others, it is simply a cultural habit.<br />Anyway, it's an interesting reflection (as always, Marc!).<br /><br />Tadeu SiqueiraAnonymousnoreply@blogger.com