What is Digg?Sponsored by Activision
Band Hero view!
guitarhero.com - The biggest event music event of the year is now in your living room.
52 Comments
- kinobe, on 01/13/2009, -0/+14"The poachers have been encouraged by the Convention for Trade in Endangered Species' decision to allow China and Japan to buy 108 tons of ivory in South African stockpiles."
What the *****. - DeadSkinMask, on 01/13/2009, -0/+13I visited Kenya last year and went on a 4 day safari through Tsavo East, Tsavo West & Amboseli National Parks. My driver & guide told me that a large portion of the poaching that still continues through the region is conducted or set up through crooked Park Rangers.
I have nothing against killing animals for survival, but to thought of great mamals such as the African Elephant slaughtered for a bit of Ivory makes me sick to my stomach. - commiecat, on 01/13/2009, -0/+10They had a show on this place recently. Forgot what channel I caught it on but it was kinda depressing. The care takers that apply to work there are put on probation at first -- if the elephants don't seem to care for you after that probation, you don't get the job. They assign one keeper to each elephant who spends all their time with them, but they rotate keepers so as not to get too attached.
There was one elephant whose family was killed in front of it. It had to stay in a cage and was really aggressive towards the keepers, ramming its head into the bars. Daphne Sheldrick, the owner, explained that the elephant clearly remembered the killing and was still terribly upset at losing its family.
Was one of those shows that makes you happy that the orphans are being cared for, but at the same time it sucks that they're there in the first place. - Rixta, on 01/13/2009, -0/+3Very true. Some African countries such as South Africa (I'm S African btw) are lobbying to lift the ban on ivory sales so it can be controlled and the elephant population can be handled. Nature itself used to do this but we have hunted the predators to the edge of extinction and made the game reserves much smaller and pump in water during dry times so the elephants have flourished.
- PHJames88, on 01/13/2009, -0/+3LEAVE THE BABY ELEPHANTS ALONE!
- hauntedchippy, on 01/13/2009, -1/+4Scott, what it is with you and the Daily Mail?
- firesphotons, on 01/13/2009, -0/+3They should legalize shooting poachers, allow wealthy foreigners to pay large sums of money to hunt them and use the proceeds to bring the animal population back. Let's see how these despicable humans like being shot for cash and fun.
- 3allawi, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2I so love the pictures !
- trollick, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2I thought it was about OPRAH baby elephants.
- zhenya80, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2I remember watching that on Animal Planet. The keepers put in a lot of hard work to raise these elephants. When they brought a new orphan in, the keeper would sleep with that elephant first couple of nights, to make sure he is ok. They also showed, how other elephants would immediately care for the new orphan.
- Pstmann, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2It takes a long time for an elephant to die. Humans aren't known for their patience.
- Trixie65, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2I want one.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -1/+3That childrens and elephant photo is so cute
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2Wonder how many machine-gunned, machete-hacked elephants it takes to make 108 TONS of ivory. Sure hope the consumers enjoy their delightful new ivory products.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2Yes, come on, explain the attraction to us. Is it financial?
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+2"There's no fear that elephants are going to eat our livestock, or nab our kids in the woods."
Yeah except they DO kill people. Elephants are very territorial and are known to frequently attack. - slapthemonkey, on 01/14/2009, -0/+2Nurture them and then release them
- johnroth, on 01/13/2009, -3/+4Well, I understand that it's ***** up that poachers are killing elephants I listened to a show on NPR earlier this year featuring a guest from Africa who was explaining that due to laws created making it illegal to hunt elephants there the elephant population had grown to large. So much to the point where the elephants were consuming a large enough portion of vegetation as to cause a significant impact on the eco-system there.
So yeah. Elephants are cute, beautiful, intelligent creatures, but they be eatin' the ***** out of Africa. Not that what the poachers are doing is okay, because the culling of the elephants should be taken care of by officials. - TheCamino, on 01/13/2009, -1/+2 What a lame excuse!
I'm not buying that argument.
Extinction of a species is not an excuse to get yourself a land rover.
Poisoning people, no matter how indirectly, is not and excuse to manufacture drugs.
Their ancestors fed themselves, and had lives.
But apparently, now that poaching and drug manufacture is here, well, that's "The only choice of employment those people have."
BULL. BULL. BULL.
Besides, do you even think these people are saving their families? You think that the ivory they sell is going to get them any more food than working the land? I doubt it.
Shooting an elephant allows them to make money, and NOT WORK THE LAND. It's actually lazy.
Do you think that the narcos are paying the guy that works in the cocaine refinery enough to live a lavish lifestyle from it? Hell no. They're paying probably only slightly better than the dirt wage that is the going rate in the area. I doubt if I'll ever see a South American drug cutter sitting next to my kids at Disneyworld. And someone is making millions off of it.
Mostly, it's bad choices. Those bad choices spiral out into a bad society.
But keep this in mind. You can be stupid and make money selling drugs. You can be stupid and feed your family shooting an elephant between the eyes.
That's a poor excuse for that kind of behavior, on any level. - TheBogie, on 01/13/2009, -4/+5The Ivory trade is so wrong. Save these poor elephants!! Stop using Ivory soap!!
I use Dove, because there are plenty of them around and they're always crapping on my car. Screw the doves!! - DeadSkinMask, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1Do you want the food bill that comes with it?
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -1/+2People kill elephants for their IVORY, right? So why can't you just wait until they die naturally, and THEN take their bones? There's less work involved that way, too, so it's a win-win.
- pinchduck, on 01/13/2009, -1/+2Nazi orphaned baby elephants? That Hitler dude was far more insidious than I thought!
- presidentraygun, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1Dumbo was an orphan baby elephant and he learned to fly with the help of a magic feather. What we have here is a dire lack of magic feathers.
- TheCamino, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1
Oh, bull.
And why is it that the elephants are overgrown in an area like that?
Because there are farmers with fences?
Because they shot all the lions?
Question: What was the largest killer of human beings in history? Humans?
No.
Wolves. You couldn't get them with a bow. They'd see you and smell you a mile away. There an order of magnitude smarter than a dog, and they work as a unit.
Only until gunpowder did wolves really become an endangered species, because we feared them so much.
They ate us, and our livestock.
You can't find a wolf now.
They were the second most dangerous lifeform on this planet until we started making weapons.
Now we have a deer overpopulation issue.
Gosh, I wonder why.
It's the same stupid things with the elephants.
Except the real tragedy is, the elephants aren't hurting anyone. There's no fear that elephants are going to eat our livestock, or nab our kids in the woods. It's just a cultural construct that asians love ivory.
It's a stupid excuse for extinction. - firesphotons, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1I'll buy that Rixta, good post, you won't have a tough time convincing me that the allocation of wealth on this planet needs comprehensive change if not the entire worthless monetary system itself.
- Rixta, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1As much as I agree with you there are always 2 sides to a coin. The fact is that the poachers are not doing it for fun, they are just trying to look after their families the only way they can. It's similar to the drug producers in Colombia who use who families to grow & cultivate heroin...that's the only choice of employment those people have.
- Trixie65, on 01/19/2009, -0/+1yep not a prob, if I could save an elephant, i live on 5 acres.
- TheBogie, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1Yes, but what do you do when people don't get a poaching hunting license? Or they hunt poachers out of season?
Do you then send out another group of hunters to hunt the poacher hunters? - inactive, on 01/13/2009, -1/+2Haha... this made me smile. Thanks.
- TheCamino, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1Dude, not all elephants die of old age.
Just because we're not out at the night that they die, doesn't mean anything. - empraptor, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1lions hunt elephants? now that's one video i've got to find.
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/53090/elephant_vs_7_ ... - inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1You know, in the interest of self-preservation, I totally get that. However, it's interesting that as humans, we keep every other species at an arm length from the natural progression of their species. Not that it's "wrong", just interesting to look at from a universal perspective.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1"rule"? Hi... welcome to 1995. "Chicks RULE, dude!" *thumbs up :-D*
- JamesBondQ, on 01/14/2009, -0/+1But I want ivory nnooooooooooow.
- Pstmann, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1Go watch the movie again, he wasn't orphaned, just separated from his mother.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1"Question: What was the largest killer of human beings in history? Humans?
No. Wolves... Only until gunpowder did wolves really become an endangered species, because we feared them so much."
By history, do you mean the biological history of our species, or the much shorter written history? And in which region(s) of the planet? I personally know of no evidence to substantiate what you're claiming in any case. Neither fossilized skeletons nor surviving written documents suggest that wolves were the leading cause of mortality for any significant tribe or civilization that I'm aware of. If you have scientifically validated information to the contrary, please share. - Pstmann, on 01/13/2009, -0/+1The poachers aren't the real problem, it's the people who buy the Ivory who are. No money for Ivory, no poaching.
- poidh, on 01/13/2009, -1/+1BUT IT'S A NAZI RAG!
- mikbunn, on 01/13/2009, -1/+1They're delicious.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -1/+1Inside voice.
- derekmas10, on 01/13/2009, -1/+1you probably never thought of WHY Dumbo was rejected. What was it about his ears that made him "bad"?
He had big ears. What does that matter?
Asian elephants have small ears. African elephants have big ears. The fact that he was born to an Asian elephant, but had big ears (especially when this movie came out) made him an illegitimate, half-black child. Just another hidden part of what makes Disney movies of the day pretty horrible if you watch them again today. - inactive, on 01/13/2009, -1/+1:(
- blanketfury, on 01/13/2009, -2/+1i'm gonna start selling elephants in ebay.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -2/+1In their culture, it's been right for them to do this for *years*. However, as a person with a love for animals, I have to say this is hard to swallow -probably because there's a DICK in mouth! HA, I beat you to it. Oh wait... :-( awww...
- Nhoji, on 01/13/2009, -2/+1Baby elephants rule.
that is all. - rda1441, on 01/13/2009, -3/+1hmmmmmmmmmm.....baby elephant.
- inactive, on 01/13/2009, -3/+1Aren't you grown up now.
P.S. George W called, he'd like his brain back. -
Show 51 - 54 of 54 discussions
© Digg Inc. 2009
— Content created and posted by Digg users is