Petting a lion cub is a really bad idea - this is why

[Foxhound5366]

Here's a solid piece of reporting: https://www.news24.com/SouthAfrica/News/petting-a-lion-cub-is-a-really-bad-idea-this-is-why-20191005

Many captive wildlife facilities will tell you that their cubs are either rescued or orphaned, because the mother rejected her cubs. However, the vast majority of cubs are neither abandoned nor rescued, but simply bred on demand in one of the more than 300 breeding farms in South Africa.

@Parents, please stop supporting this animal abuse by taking your kids to pet lion cubs ... at least not without asking the questions proposed in that story and scrutinising the answers you are given.

 

[saor]

Seems like similar 'abuse' to what factory farmed animals are routinely exposed to: feet never touch grass, bred under artificial conditions to maximise output, live shitty lives etc. Presumably outrage at these cubs also requires outrage at factory farming? Or is there a difference here I'm missing, other than lions cubs being cuter than pigs or chickens?

 

[Foxhound5366]

Seems like similar 'abuse' to what factory farmed animals are routinely exposed to: feet never touch grass, bred under artificial conditions to maximise output, live shitty lives etc. Presumably outrage at these cubs also requires outrage at factory farming? Or is there a difference here I'm missing, other than lions cubs being cuter than pigs or chickens?

What point are you trying to make, saor? That two wrongs make a right?

I think a lot of parents (some of whom I know personally) just love the thought of taking their little rugrats to pat the cute little lion cubs, with barely a thought for what happens to those cubs when they leave, or where they come from.

We're not living under a rock anymore, we're living in the information age. Information brings with it responsibility, at the very least to make informed decisions and to take ownership for them.

I suspect (hope too) that a lot of parents might decide to entertain their children at the facility that doesn't rely on systematic animal abuse. Maybe I'm wrong, but heck, I've got some hope in humanity still.

 

[3WA]

Or is there a difference here I'm missing, other than lions cubs being cuter than pigs or chickens?

Not cuter, but less delicious.

 

[rietrot]

Not cuter, but less delicious.

How do you know this?

 

[3WA]

How do you know this?

While I've never had lion meat personally, given their phylogenetics they probably taste just like jaguar or cat.

 

[ForceFate]

While I've never had lion meat personally, given their phylogenetics they probably taste just like jaguar or cat.

You've tasted kitty meat I presume?

 

[saor]

What point are you trying to make, saor? That two wrongs make a right?

That we've already declared a willingness to be cruel if it justifies some ends. And I think we're far less likely to give a crap about some animals when we're already not giving a crap about other animals.

Look, I can't stand seeing lions petted - it grates my gears that this is what we've reduced wild nature to. But when people are arbitrarily selective about which animals deserve our compassion it makes the cause look kneejerk and temporary - as tho we'll worry about the lions for a week and then forget about them because really - none of us cares enough about animals to even try eating less meat in a given week.

*Pretends to care about lions whilst eating KFC.

I dunno. I don't wanna see this happen to lions either but I tend to have a pessimistic response to these calls to actions considering how cruel we are elsewhere. You're right, two wrongs don't make a right tho.

 

[3WA]

You've tasted kitty meat I presume?

Not intentionally but I do sometimes buy processed meat from Food Lover's Market, so probably yes.

 

[ForceFate]

Not intentionally but I do sometimes buy processed meat from Food Lover's Market, so probably yes.

 

[Foxhound5366]

That we've already declared a willingness to be cruel if it justifies some ends. And I think we're far less likely to give a crap about some animals when we're already not giving a crap about other animals.

Look, I can't stand seeing lions petted - it grates my gears that this is what we've reduced wild nature to. But when people are arbitrarily selective about which animals deserve our compassion it makes the cause look kneejerk and temporary - as tho we'll worry about the lions for a week and then forget about them because really - none of us cares enough about animals to even try eating less meat in a given week.

*Pretends to care about lions whilst eating KFC.

I dunno. I don't wanna see this happen to lions either but I tend to have a pessimistic response to these calls to actions considering how cruel we are elsewhere. You're right, two wrongs don't make a right tho.

True story Saor. Unfortunately we live in a day and age where there are SO MANY worthy causes, that nobody (not even baby jeebers himself) could ever live so perfectly that not a single person points a finger. You'd need to live completely off-the-grid, eating only food you've sustainably farmed for yourself, and not partaking in the exploitative capitalist economy or any formal religious or political systems.

My view on this is that I don't need to change the whole world, but any good that I can bring into the world (no matter how small) is still worth it. I'm far from perfect, but I haven't given up the entire damn struggle just yet. The bottom line is that if people stop visiting lion petting farms, those places will be forced to pivot towards something that just maybe isn't quite as nasty. Or maybe they'll just pivot towards something else as nasty ... and so the struggle continues.

 

[Tokolotshe]

True story Saor. Unfortunately we live in a day and age where there are SO MANY worthy causes, that nobody (not even baby jeebers himself) could ever live so perfectly that not a single person points a finger. You'd need to live completely off-the-grid, eating only food you've sustainably farmed for yourself, and not partaking in the exploitative capitalist economy or any formal religious or political systems.

My view on this is that I don't need to change the whole world, but any good that I can bring into the world (no matter how small) is still worth it. I'm far from perfect, but I haven't given up the entire damn struggle just yet. The bottom line is that if people stop visiting lion petting farms, those places will be forced to pivot towards something that just maybe isn't quite as nasty. Or maybe they'll just pivot towards something else as nasty ... and so the struggle continues.

So socialist and communist systems? I hear rat meat taste like chicken? Especially tangy when seasoned with mopanie worms? What is the feedback from Zim?

 

[thestaggy]

BuT ThEy cOnTrIbUtE tO CoNsErVaTiOn.

Fvck off.

 

[Foxhound5366]

BuT ThEy cOnTrIbUtE tO CoNsErVaTiOn.

Fvck off.

Is that like it's ok to murder children ... so long as the children are 16 years old and called "soldiers" and they're on the enemy side and you're America and ...

you get my drift ;P

 

[Foxhound5366]

So socialist and communist systems? I hear rat meat taste like chicken? Especially tangy when seasoned with mopanie worms? What is the feedback from Zim?

I was thinking more of a system where we all sit in a circle and admire a single (still growing - not picked) flower in the centre, while asking the aliens to deliver us from all the nastiness.

 

[RedViking]

You can pet them until the day they attack, then you can shoot them.

 

[rietrot]

BuT ThEy cOnTrIbUtE tO CoNsErVaTiOn.

Fvck off.

Yes they do. Farming with lions = more lions.

 

[RedViking]

Are you telling me they have been lion to us?

 

[thestaggy]

Yes they do. Farming with lions = more lions.

Cool story.

 

[Tokolotshe]

I was thinking more of a system where we all sit in a circle and admire a single (still growing - not picked) flower in the centre, while asking the aliens to deliver us from all the nastiness.

Now that's an idea. Maybe I should get a island and start such a cult. But how do we keep evil ***ists out? Ah, let's put a lion camp around the perimeter! Oh dear, I guess I'll have to include conservationists in the *ists.

Jokes aside. What I have against articles such as this is that a lot of is is seen as absolutes: "all the lion farms do this, all cubs are from these origins". Yet this is not true.

Yes they do. Farming with lions = more lions.

Correct. By attributing a value to an animal, they become more if it can be commercialized. The humane side of operations is totally another discussion, but the two get trivially confused in these highly emotive discussions. Even this report plays into that. Yet where the source is quoted, they do not use words such as all, always rather many, sometimes.