One Bad Mother (Nature)

Fashionable maulings for charity. Japan's Kamine Zoo is raising money with Zoo Jeans, "the only jeans on earth designed by dangerous animals." Comes in Lion, Tiger, and Bear (requisite "oh my" joke).

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BBC News Magazine posted a story about Columbia’s hippo problem. It is an invasive species situation caused by the importation of these animals by infamous drug lord Pablo Escobar.

Ecologist Rebecca Lewison points out that hippos “aren't like crocodiles… they don't see a thing and instinctively want to kill it.” This explains why no one in Columbia has been killed or hurt so far. However, they’re one of Africa’s deadliest mammals, and are responsible for about 500 deaths per year worldwide (490 more than sharks and wolves). They are described in the article as a “time bomb,” and a lingering threat to the local population.

For various reasons, solutions to the problem are still unclear. One element hampering the implementation of a cull is the “floppy effect." Carlos Valderrama, a vet working to curb the problem, notes that Columbians “are more vulnerable than Africans because they see hippos as cuddly, 'floppy' animals.” This also means that the charismatic animals must be handled sensitively. Photos of the bloodied bodies of charismatic animals won't do wonders for PR (case in point: Danish zoos).

The article closes with a consideration of how these animals have been used in popular culture and have become a fleshy metaphor for “what's happened in Colombia in the last 20 years.”

It should also be noted: This American Life had a fascinating short report about a plan in the early 1900s to bring hippos to America as a new food source. This is an adaptation of a longer written account. Curiously (to my mind), no one on the program seems to find anything glaringly wrong with the plan.

 Links:

Gates, Bill. “The Deadliest Animal in the World.” Gates Notes. 25 Apr. 2014. (for the record: it's mosquitoes)

Harven, Michelle. “Pablo Escobar may be long gone, but his hippos are still a big problem for Columbia.” PRI’s The World. 27 May 2014.

“Hungry Hungry People.” This American Life. 14 Feb. 2014.

Kremer, William. “Pablo Escobar’s hippos: A growing problem.” BBC News Magazine. 25 Jun. 2014.

Meier, Allison. “Curious Fact of the Week: Pablo Escobar’s Hippos.” Atlas Obscura. 3 Jun. 2103.

After a long hiatus, I'm back with a link to "Facing Death in a Panda's Mouth," the infamous Heroic Comics story from March 1946. In addition to its valuable "Chinese people are weird" insights, the story relies on the terrifying potential of a large and mysterious creature few Westerners had seen. The panda cam has done much to demystify these animals.

Once you've followed the chewed up bamboo to terror, you might check out this BBC story about the first panda to come to America in 1936.

Links:

Bowes, Claire and Alison Gee. "Ruth Harkness and Su Lin: The first panda to leave China." BBC News. 2 Dec. 2013.

If you haven't seen the excellent documentary Blackfish, now might be a good time to watch. Yesterday an appeals court upheld OSHA's ruling against SeaWorld Entertainment Inc's working conditions for trainers.

Judge Judith Reynolds wrote: "Statements by SeaWorld managers do not indicate that SeaWorld's safety protocols and training made the killer whales safe; rather, they demonstrate SeaWorld's recognition that the killer whales interacting with trainers are dangerous."

In relation to the documentary: as you can see in the above trailer, even the trainer-whale interactions that go fine are rather terrifying.

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A rare bit of positive news to share: The Guardian reported on the "Living Wall" Project which "is helping eliminate an age-old problem in northern Tanzania – the conflict between predators and farmers."

The report notes that this is by no means a solution to the larger existential crisis facing Africa's big cats, but it facilitates human-predator coexistence. Dr Laly Lichtenfeld testifies "that in communities where an average of six or seven lions had been killed in retaliation attacks a year, after the new natural fences are installed, that number falls to an average of less than one."

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Last year the Beijing Municipal Public Security Bureau warned that “dogs that are 35 cm in height or taller, or that are one of 41 breeds identified as violent such as bulldogs and collies, will be banned in designated areas in Beijing.” The report announcing this decision ended with a supportive pet owner’s statement: “Some big or fierce dogs are never trained, and they may harm children or the elderly… I don't think Beijing is a city suitable to raising large dogs. Our living space is crowded enough." In 2012, there were 1 million registered dogs in Beijing, whose population was over 20 million. Owners of dogs that didn’t make that cut would need to relocate or shelter their animals, or the Bureau would do it for them.

Or not.

That project apparently didn’t go anywhere, but now it’s becoming official. Last week the National Companion Animal Standardization Committee was set up to create “strict national guidelines on which breeds are suitable as house pets.” Sorting animals into formalized categories, including “aggressive dogs, working dogs, active dogs, hunting dogs, sheep dogs,” will determine suitability. The National Standardization Management Committee (committees on committees on committees) will formalize these standards.

It appears to be a case of officials problematizing unproblematic urban human-animal interaction. It’s not that these dogs need to be culled, they just need to not be in certain environments. The initial report notes that "District governments and local police have the right to decide where dogs can and cannot be raised." This idea of a right/wrong place for dogs seems to be based on a utilitarian categorization of dogs’ inherent character.

Several articles on this issue pointed to Zhanna Koiviola’s GB Times article about the history of dog ownership in China. During the Cultural Revolution, dogs weren’t just threats to children and the elderly, but also the proletariat, being “a symbol of the bourgeois.”

Note: the first photo comes from China.org.cn's initial report, the 2nd comes from Outdoor's report on the latest developments. One would almost think they were trying to prime their audiences to respond in very specific ways...

 Links:

“Beijing set to rein dangerous dogs.” China.org.cn. 14 Jun. 2013.

Koiviola, Zhanna. “China’s love-hate history with dogs.” GB Times. 28 May 2012.

This March 10 press release comes from Green Heritage Fund Suriname and responds (with a reassuring tone) to the third recorded anteater attack death. It's a story with potential novelty legs, and the report makes sure to clarify that we don't suddenly have to worry about this endangered animal being a killer.

Mariella Superina, Chair of the IUCN/SSC Anteater, Sloth and Armadillo Specialist Group describes the previous incidents, and notes that, in all cases, “the giant anteaters felt threatened and tried to defend their life, which is something you would expect from any wild animal (and even domestic animals).”

The Atlantic recently posted a great article about how Russia's annexation of Crimea has put them in possession of the attack dolphin program Ukraine inherited after the Cold War.

The above report from Journeyman Pictures is included in the story, and it details the dolphins transition from the military program to a controversial healing program (one expert questions the merits of dolphins' healing auras vs. putting severely ill children in a tank full of dolphin poop). Note the ways in which the video struggles to make the dolphins look scary while discussing their potential military deployment - full of slow motion and closeups on unreadable eyes.

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This was brought to my attention by the great NPR news quiz Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me.

I did a search, and the only report of a goat-related fatality I could find was from 2010, when a hiker was killed in Olympic National Park by "a rogue goat that someone should have done something about sooner." For the record: mountain goats are a non-native species, originally brought to the Olympic Peninsula from Canada and Alaska in the 1920s by hunters. ALSO for the record: as a result of this death, park officials issued a warning to hikers not to urinate along trails, as it would turn them “into ‘long, linear salt licks’ that attract goats.”

Despite this (and goats’ super creepy eyes) there does not seem to be any greater conspiracy afoot. When asked about the situation, Richard Robinson, director of the Brighton Science Festival, responded: "I'm afraid I cannot address your problem. I have much more important things to think about just now: sea urchins, hordes of them, with their evil poisoned spines, there in the sea, just out of view, waiting… waiting…"

Links:

Broom, Jack. "Mountain goat that fatally injured man was known to be troublesome." Seattle Times. 18 Oct 2010.

Hathaway, Jay. "Correction: Humanity Not on Brink of Terrible War With Goats." Gawker. 12 Mar 2014.

Currently making the rounds: a first-person POV of a man, Jason Dimitri, being attacked by a shark (during a lion fish cull - see below).

The video's being framed rather outrageously on various websites. Gawker (whose name doesn't promise a measured tone) describes this as a "near brush with death." The Washington Post reports it as an even closer call, claiming Dimitri was "seconds away from death." For the record, as near as I can find, there are no reports of Caribbean reef sharks killing people. Still, it's a more compelling packaging than "mildly thrilling video of man poking at mid-sized persistent shark."

For his own part, Dimitri put the ethical disclaimer on his video (which, let's be honest, anyone would want to share): "I have no ill will toward him [the shark] and will get back in the water and continue to protect the reef for future generations." How it gets subsequently sensationalized in the press is another matter.

Links:

Bluestone, Gabrielle. "GoPro-Clad Diver Narrowly Escapes Shark Attack." Gawker. 16 Mar 2014.

Another story that fell through the cracks while I was traveling. "Cat whisper" Jackson Galaxy spoke to the Oregonian regarding possible explanations for the cat's behavior, stating: "this behavior doesn’t occur in a vacuum. That’s really the important thing, is that there’s always a context.”

Galaxy also makes a good point at the end, saying: "I don’t want this cat to die because of the viral nature of this story.” It's hard not to reduce this story to a simple joke (the transcript doesn't help), but with that reduction comes to easy possibility of casting the cat as a comedic villain, rather than a domestic animal with a clear breaking point.

As a personal side note: like presumably most people whose family had a cat when they were very young, I pulled on a cat's tail and got a scratch for it. It's an important moment for a child, when something properly puts you in your place (I'm not a toy and I am willing to hurt you). That brings to mind another popular viral video.

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Yesterday I posted Martin Fletcher’s controversial story about Ethiopia’s urban hyenas. In that article’s sidebar, BBC links to an old feature story also focusing on hyenas and humans. The report highlights disturbing treatments of mental illness in Somalia. Among these are a massively expensive (and extremely dangerous) practice based on the belief “that hyenas can see everything including the evil spirits people think cause mental illness…. So in Mogadishu, you will find hyenas that have been brought from the bush and families will pay £350 ($560) to have their loved one locked in the room overnight with the animal…. By clawing and biting at the patient, the hyena is thought to force the evil spirit out." Here we have a report of a targeted use of these animals to assault marginalized individuals.

The above uncredited photo comes from the same article. It's unclear whether this hyena is actually one involved in the treatment, or simply a menacing captive (note the very subtle askew angle).

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I've been busy traveling for conferences, but have been meaning to highlight Martin Fletcher's BBC News feature on urban hyenas in Ethiopia - a local manifestation of a global consequence of "nature" and "civilization" coming into close contact:

“London is infested by urban foxes. Delhi is besieged by urban monkeys. Addis Ababa is plagued by urban hyenas who have moved in to the city from the surrounding hills... In some ways they perform a useful service, keeping the city's growing population of stray dogs and feral cats under control and consuming the carcasses of dead horses and other animals. But there are now reckoned to be somewhere between 300 and 1,000 of them living in the city and they are dangerous.”

Particularly, the hyenas pose a threat to the city's homeless population, with the article citing a 2013 incident where "a mother camping outside St Stephanos church near the Hilton Hotel had her baby son snatched from her arms and killed by a hyena."

The very interesting blog "Hyenas in Harar" criticized Fletcher's report, describing it as "sensationalist predator porn" and noting that his rhetoric (infested, besieged, plagued) "implicitely [sic] argues for [urban wildlife's] eradication." The blog further notes that the larger systemic issue would seem to be a lack of proper resources for the homeless population, not the presence of hyenas.

A subsequent Guardian response by blogger Yves Maria Stranger also noted that Fletcher betrayed an outsider's perspective, failing to realize that "Hyenas have always featured prominently in the life of Addis Ababa – and Ethiopia. Contrary to many countries where the beasts are reviled and feared, in Ethiopia there is a long tradition of people and hyenas living side-by-side in harmony." While people should recognize the potential risk they pose as wild predators, they don't pose nearly as great a threat to humans as feral dogs - which the hyenas keep in check.

The above photo comes from Nick Riley's excellent photo blog; check out his photos series on hyena feeding in Harar.

Links:

Fletcher, Martin. "The urban hyenas that attack rough sleepers." BBC News. 22 Feb 2014.

"Hyenas in Addis." Hyenas in Harar. 25 Feb 2014.

Riley, Nick. "Dining With Hyenas." Nick Riley Photography Blog. 17 Nov 2011.

I've been traveling recently and have not been following the news very closely. When you lose track of stories like Ukraine, you reconnect after several days and find that dramatic and distressing events are occurring at breakneck speed.

Yet sneaking into the news cycle is this bizarre novelty story of a "battle" between two reptilian predators. As one witness said: "It's not something you see everyday."

There's a followup article about the logistics of a python's killing and eating method, which notes at the end that humans "are usually off limits because their shoulders are too wide."

Snakes can't understand international news cycles, but if they could I wonder if this one would think 'Aw shaucks, twern't nothing.' Or 'I didn't make #1 for that?'

Links:

"Australia: Snake eats crocodile after battle." BBC News. Mar. 3 2014.

The Lionfish Cookbook [Tricia Ferguson and Lad Akins, David M. Stone] on Amazon.com. This book provides a unique blend of tantalizing recipes, background on the lionfish invasion and its impacts

The Asian carp is a notoriously destructive invasive species in the US, partly because it has no natural predators. Chicago is looking to rectify that. BBC explains: "Authorities are thinking of blocking the city's canal system to stop Asian carp entering Lake Michigan. Such a move could cost up to $18bn (£11bn) and cause huge economic disruption to the city. Cheaper options are also being examined, including making burgers out of the fish and eating them to extinction." (emphasis added) Honestly, what could be a more comforting solution to an environmental problem than over-consumption? Food World News drew a comparison to Florida's plans to eat the deadly lionfish to extinction. One chef was quoted: "We better learn how to eat them, before they eat us."

The above photo comes from the Florida Key National Marine Sanctuary. Check this link for the 2014 Lionfish Derby dates.

Links:

Ghosh, Pallab. "Chicago goes to war with Asian carp." BBC News, 17 Feb. 2014.

Kaye, Ken. "Florida Chef on Lionfish: 'We Better Learn How To Eat Them, Before They Eat Us." Huffpost-Miami, 20 Oct. 2013.

Related to the earlier post about Snake Salvation, I also happened across this upcoming thriller Holy Ghost People. The trailer and the title both evoke the 1967 ethnographic documentary. In the process, it gets a little of the documentary's presumed authenticity on itself, and smears a little of its trash on that historical document.

As in the Snake Salvation example, snake handling is used as a signifier of exaggerated backwoods Southern characters. This time, instead of being buffoons, they are presented as bestial, dangerous Rednecks.