LONDON (Reuters) - Animal rights activists said on Tuesday they were outraged by news that a Scottish zoo had allowed its African lions to commit incest. Advocates for Animals said it was "irresponsible, unethical and totally unacceptable" that Glasgow Zoo had let its brother and sister lions, Leo and Cleo, breed and produce three cubs.
"We were a bit suspicious why they had not been parading them around more and then they admitted that they had allowed brother and sister lions to breed," campaigns director Ross Minett told Reuters.
The zoo admitted its two lions had committed incest but denied it had been keeping the three-month-old cubs under wraps, saying the mother had kept them hidden and had only brought them out when the animal park was closed.
"We have had cubs, and the parents are brother and sister. It was a failure of the contraceptive that the vets had put in place," Roger Edwards, the zoo's chief executive officer said.
"We did what we could to prevent it," he told Reuters. "Our major concern is to check that the cubs are healthy and are thriving."
Edwards, who said Advocates for Animals was spearheading a campaign against the zoo after publishing a damning report earlier in the year, admitted it was the second time Leo had got Cleo pregnant. The cubs had been still births first time round.
Trisha Holford, of wildlife charity the Born Free Foundation, said lions only rarely committed incest in the wild and said the zoo had acted irresponsibly.
"Nature has all sorts of systems to stop inbreeding. In lion society young males are kicked out when they reach adulthood so they can't breed with their sisters," she told Reuters.
She said that, since the lions would be living together, Leo should have had a vasectomy. She also questioned what reputable animal park would now take in the inbred cubs.
Animal Rights activists crack me up. Take for instance thte woman from the Born Free Foundation. She wants the zoo to give the lion a vasectomy! How free is that? Where in the wild do lions get vasectomies? Here's another great bit from this crowd: (taken from foxnews.com 'tongue tied' column) A New Hampshire judge has refused requests by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals to scuttle an annual pig scramble at a local fair despite the group's pleas that the event is dangerous to the piglets, reports The Union Leader.
The SPCA likened the 4-H-sponsored event to the human "freak shows" that once were common during summer fairs. The concern is that a beefy farm boy might fall on top of a piglet and injure it, or that families who take pigs home won't know how to care for them.
The event in question involves placing eight piglets in a pen and allowing up to 10 children, ages 8 to 18, to chase after them in three-minute rounds, try to capture them and stuff them into bags. The winners get to keep the piggy.
Court testimony included commentary from professor Jerilee Zezula from the University of New Hampshire who said that being chased by a group of children "causes enough stress for [the piglet] to cause it long-term harm."
and people talking about wrestling on the internet = people with just enough time?
I have very few kind words for most animal rights groups, as they tend to be very hypocritical and seem to only want to protect cute animals, but I understand why they would want a lion in the zoo to have a vasectomy. No, it doesn't get one in the wild, but it's not in the wild anymore.
And if I'm not mistaken, animal incest is not unheard of. I'm pretty sure I learned about it in high school, so it strikes me as odd that an animal rights group isn't familiar with it.
Originally posted by eviljonhunt81 I have very few kind words for most animal rights groups, as they tend to be very hypocritical and seem to only want to protect cute animals, but I understand why they would want a lion in the zoo to have a vasectomy.
There's a great bit on Denis Leary's first album about cute little seals and big ugly cows and which gets spared and which becomes food.
Animal rights activists are strongly opposed to hunting, right?
Those of you who study population genetics know that "k" represents a population's optimum size, at which it is most healthy.
So how do you keep a population within US borders at "k"?
Well, almost all populations (deer in Florida, for example) tend to breed beyond "k". So when the wildlife officials determine how many "surplus" individuals there are, they issue that many licenses.
In other words, it's good for the deer.
WyldeWolf1 The Man of 1,008 holds, making him 3 holds better than Chris Jericho!
I don't know to give a lion a vasectomy would be cruel and they are endangered. So I have a better idea. Next time the lions are out drinking or are watching lion porn the lady from the Born Free Federation can put a condom on the male lion. It's only fair since the lion lacks hands. Seriously this is the stupidest thing I have heard in a long time. Probably they should have split the lions up since they were related. But would the animal hippies be happy if they split them up? Or if they did give the male lion a vasectomy would the ARE have been happy. Of course not.
I just have 13 words for you. How much wood would a woodchuch chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?
From what I recall from a college science class, incest is not necessairly *immediately* disadvantageous to a population. It is only after repeated inbreeding that "bad" mutations or problems begin occuring. These people need to stop freaking out.
DMC
"And win, lose, or draw, trust me. I'm gonna respect myself in the morning, and you're gonna respect me." -Arn Anderson
Originally posted by AngryJohnnyAnimal Rights Activists=People with too much spare time
Like you have room to talk.
Hey, pot, there's a phone call for you, it's the kettle. He says "You're black."
"You can't fire a gun in a confined space! What are you tring to do, make us deaf?!" "Just get out of the chopper." "What?" "Get out of the chopper!" "The crops!?" - Jack Lemmon and James Garner, "My Fellow Americans", and the reason I say "The crops?" instead of "Huh?"
It's amazing that there is a war on terrorism, folks still starving in the world, living under oppressive dictatorships, and can't even be provided or afforded decent housing, and people can still have time to worry about stuff like this...
Homing pigeons...so that's how they do it! (Yahoo! News) Disturbing to think that one of nature's mysteries turns out to be the same gimmick the Pee Wee Herman-esque alien ship and smart-aleck kid used to move through Florida in Flight of the Navigator....