"Iwouldneverletmymotherenterthat

cage,"saysexpert

(OriginallinkinPortuguese:
http://ultimosegundo.ig.com.br/ciencia/meioambiente/eunaodeixariaminhamaeentrarnaqu
elajaulaafirmaespecialis/n1597658390395.html)
iGaskedbiologistsandveterinarianstofindoutiftheallegationsofdomesticationin
Argentinaaretrue

NatashaMadov,iGSoPaulo,03/01/201206:59:30

Woulditbepossibletodomesticatepredatorsliketigersandlions,knownfortheir
ferociousness,tothepointwhereitwouldbeperfectlysafetoentertheircages,touchthem
andtakephotosofthemasiftheyweretameascatsordogs?Toanswerthesequestions,iG
showedseveralexpertsthevideosandphotostakenatZooLujanbyourreports,aswellas
thezoo'sinstitutionalmaterialsavailableontheweb,andtheyunanimouslysaid:Some
trainingispossible,buttheriskofinjuryanddeathexists.

Understandthecase:
ZooinArgentinacausescontroversyforallowingvisitorsinsidebigcats'cages
OnedayinLujan
Watchthevideo
Accordingtobiologistsandwildlifeveterinarians,domesticationisalongprocessthattakes
severalgenerationsandgenetictraitselection(similartowhathappenedtodogsandcatsfor
thousandsofyears).WhathappensatazooinLujanisbasicallytrainingandbehavioral
conditioning.Theanimals,asdocileandwelltreatedastheyseemtobe,remainwildanddo
notlosetheirinstincts."Itdoesntmeanthatyoureabletobreakawayfromthespecies'
evolutionaryhistory,"explainedGelsonGenaro,anexpertinfelinebehavior,toiG.Andthe
sameistrueforelephantsandbears.

Nevertheless,afterobservingaYouTubevideowhereJorgeSeminoexplainshistechnique,
allwhowespoketoforthisstorysaidthatitmadesense.Iftheanimalshaveaccompanied
humanssincethetimeofinfancy,theytendtoseethemasequalsanddonotattackthem.
Also,sometechniques,likerewardinggoodbehavior(whichseemstobewhattheLujan

caretakersdowhentheygivethefelinesmilk)andtreatingadultscatslikekittens,doesmake
themcalmerandmoretolerantofcontactwithpeople.
"Everycaptiveanimalhassomekindoftraining,"saysMaraCristinaMarquesdeAzevedo,a
biologistwhoworksinSoPauloZoosmammalsdepartment.Buttheanimalsaretrainedin
ordertomakethevets'andcaretakers'workmucheasierandtheyretrainedtobehave
differentlythantheywouldinthewild.Also,cubsandkittensalwaysstaywiththeirmothers,
unlessinspecialcaseswhenshecan'tnurseorrejecttheoffspting,suchaswhathappened
tothepolarbearKnutinGermany.Inthosecases,itisofutmostimportancetoreturnthe
animalsothatitsamongitspeersassoonaspossible."Sotheanimalwillunderstandthatit
isnothumanbecauseananimalmightnotwanttohurtaperson,butitalsodoesnt
understandhowstrongitis,"explainsAzevedo.ASiberiantiger,whosekickhasaforce
equivalentto3tons,canknockdowna1000lb.buffalowithamereslap.
"Thereisalwaystheriskoftheanimalreactingunpredictably,"warnsAzevedo.Aclassicstory
istheoneofRoyHorn,fromthemagicianduoSiegfried&Roy,whoselongcareerinLas
Vegasendedin2003whenManticore,a6yearoldwhiteBengaltigerthathasbeenraisedby
Hornsinceitwasacub,attackedhimduringaperformance,bitingtheGermanmagicianin
theneckanddragginghimoffthestage.Hornwaspartiallyparalyzedasaresultoftheattack.
Apoliceinvestigationwasdeemedinconclusiveaboutwhatmotivatedtheattackrumors
amongwildlifecirculatethatManticorewasinpainfromabrokenfang."Felinesdoshow
beforehandthatsomethingiswrong,butbears,forinstance,don't.Andelephantshave
excellentmemoriestheycanrememberbeingmistreatedyearsbeforeandcansuddenlyact
onthatmemory,"explainsAzevedo.

"Iwouldgetinthatcage,becauseIknowbigcatsandhowtheybehave,butIwouldneverlet
mymotherdoit,"saysGenaro.

Watchthevideo:
Ifyoucan'twatchhere,clickonthefollowinglinktowatchitonTViG:Argentinianzoo
causescontroversyforallowingvisitorsinsidelions'cage.
ButLujanisnotaloneinSouthAmericainofferingcloseexperienceswithbigcats.Atthe
AmbueStireserveinBolivia,volunteerstakecollaredjaguarsforawalkinthejunglein

exchangeforamaintainancefee.There,visitorssignareleaseformstatingthattheyarefully
awareoftherisktheyaretaking.AtLujan,despitereportsthatthesameproceduretook
place,nothingwasaskedfromiG'sreportersbeyondtheadmissionticketcost.

Wouldyoupetawildanimal?(Closedpoll)
Yes,I'msureIwon'tgethurt.10.73%
Yes,butIdbecareful.43.6%
No,weneverknowhowtheanimalwouldreact.45.67%

Suchconfidencefromthezoo'sownerscancomefromotherreasons.Itispossiblethatonly
themostdocileanimalsareshownorthattheyactuallyhavebeensedated,saysthe
VenezuelanveterinarianRafaelHoogesteijn,whorepresentsinBrazilthebigcatconservancy
organizationPanthera."WhatI'veseen[iniG'svideo]isnotnormalamonggreatfelines,"he
said,referringtothemomentwhenavisitorpetsadeeplyasleepmalelion.Hoogesteijn
believesthatitshouldnottakesomethingstrongerthanamildantidepressanttokeepthe
animalssedated.
Allspecialistsagreethatengagingpeoplewithanimalscanhelpraiseawarenessoftherisks
theanimalsfaceinthewild.Siberiantigers,forexample,areseriouslyindangerofextinction.
"Weneedtodisplaytheseanimalstohelpeducatethepublic,"saysRobertoFecchio,a
wildlifeveterinarian.But,accordingtohim,thesamebenefitscouldbeachievedwithgiraffes,
someprimatesormacawsspeciesthat,unlikelionsorbears,areuncapableofkillinga
humanbeingwithaflickofapaw.
Readalso:
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Exoticanimalsmarketgetsmorerestrictions
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