Damn, I can't believe these Hezbollah terrorists have no slightest concern at all for the welfare of our beloved animals. Reading news like this makes you stressed and heart broken. http://www.thestate.com/mld/thestate/news/world/15279084.htm Israeli zoo animals show signs of stress DELPINE MATHIEUSSENT Associated Press HAIFA, Israel - The baboons got stressed, the lions got fat and zoo officials worry the antelopes might have heart attacks. After 34 days in indoor shelters, many of the animals at the Haifa Zoo got a breath of outdoor air - if not a taste of freedom - for the first time on Tuesday. Zoo officials moved all the carnivores, bears and monkeys indoors at the start of the fighting between Israel and Hezbollah, both to protect them from rocket strikes and to keep an errant missile on a retaining wall from setting them loose into Israel's third-largest city. "The lions gained weight, but they look basically OK," said zoo manager Etty Ararat as he released them outdoors on Tuesday. Hours before, the lions roared and flashed their teeth at reporters who visited them at the 3 by 2-meter- (yard) indoor cages where they were confined for more than a month. "Baboons suffered from stress," Ararat said. Most of all, she worried about the more fragile animals, like the gazelles, who had to stay outside while thousands of explosions went off around them. "These animals sometimes die instantly from a heart attack several weeks after they were traumatized," he said. But all the animals seemed pleased with the declaration of a cease-fire on Monday. "They're thrilled, very happy. It's like a new place for them," said veterinarian Ayelet Shmueli. A troop of baboons scrambled to get outside through a little gate before it was even fully opened on the first day they were allowed out. Bears paced nervously, and a tiger blinked hard in the morning sun. "But we don't know what will be the impact of the fact they were enclosed for so long," Shmueli said. While indoors, zoo officials were forced to get creative to keep the animals from going crazy. "We hung sacks of meat on the ceilings of the leopards' and tigers' cages so they had to jump to get them," zookeeper Yoav Ratner said. The handlers stuffed pumpkins full of meat, he added. They filled bamboo poles with jelly "so the monkeys had to do a bit of work to get the jelly," he said. The war also hurt the zoo itself. July and August, usually the busiest months for visitors, were completely wiped out financially because of the war. "We had no revenues and I had a lot of extra expenses," Ararat, the manager said. Those expenses included buying meat the zoo usually got for free because markets had shut down, and buying tranquilizers just in case one of the animals got loose in the city, he said.
It would be better if the animals were living in their natural habitats (if possible). They are not here for our entertainment.
You mean a spaceship to take the people away from earth when the next nuclear war starts? How long would it take to build a ship that can carry every animal? Do we need to carry flies and mice?
Who doesn't care for animals. I love these type of propaganda stories. How about equal time for the zoo animals in Beirut? or the pets in southern Lebanon, (of course those fiendish Muslims probably just use their dogs as bomb delivery devices), -- that is if they are still alive. The sheer destruction of the intensive Israeli bombing broke through the news screen as the small Hezbollah rockets with a payload of 50 lbs were shown not as much , as often not too much to show. The Israeli stories tended to be human interest stories. After showing the hole in the roof of about 18 inches, and explaining how somebody could have been killed, they went on to show the refrigerator magnets and tell how the mother was so worried as she was about to pick up her child from pre-K all nice and middle American looking. Still overall not totally the usual Arabs all bad and terrorist and Israelis innocents and victims theme.
The monkeys stand for honesty Giraffes are insincere And the elephants are kindly but they're dumb Ourang-outangs are skeptical Of changes in their cages And the zookeeper is very fond of rum Zebras are reactionaries Antelopes are missionaries Pigeons plot in secrecy And hamsters turn on frequently What a gas Ya gotta come and see At the zoo
Wow! So Hezbollah actually had guidance systems on their missles, eh? And here I was thinking they were firing them indiscriminantly into Israel. Silly me.
I would say that zoo animals (during peacetime) are much happier than most of their wild counterparts. Life in the wild is tough, man. Starvation, disease, attacks from predators, and other hardships are common in the wild. Zoo animals have a good life. They're well fed, and they get to sleep and play around all day. Most of the "cages" in the zoos I have visited were quite large with lots of vegetation and space for them to roam around.
lol, thats kinda like saying humans are much happier in jail. life in the real world is tough, man. jobs, bills, drive by's...
If you have basic needs and room to roam, why can't zoo's be a good thing. I like the zoo. Many do too...
Equating human beings with animals is idiotic. I agree those animals would probably be happier in the wild, but I am just protesting what I understood as you equating man with animals.
Of course humans love the zoo. Popcorn, cotton candy, lemonade..but no the animals get none of these summer treats. The original poster said the animals were happy to be in the zoo. If you opened the zoo animal cage, I do think they would wander out. Right?
