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A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

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Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#101

Good call sending the Gorilla away (though it didn't end well for the Gorilla), because there is no controlling a 200-pound angry wild animal when its upset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_(chimpanzee) And Bears, too: > Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. "You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you're still taking a chance. It's stil…

A chimpanzee is already hard to control. I cannot imagine having a gorilla around.

An angry chimpanzee can completely disfigure you in an instant. A gorilla is even more powerful than that.

People underestimate how strong apes are.

https://youtu.be/_9L7MugvoIE

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#102

Good call sending the Gorilla away (though it didn't end well for the Gorilla), because there is no controlling a 200-pound angry wild animal when its upset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_(chimpanzee) And Bears, too: > Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. "You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you're still taking a chance. It's stil…

A chimpanzee is already hard to control. I cannot imagine having a gorilla around. An angry chimpanzee can completely disfigure you in an instant. A gorilla is even more powerful than that. People underestimate how strong apes are. https://youtu.be/_9L7MugvoIE

Two very different apes, however. Chimpanzees hunt and kill monkeys. Gorillas are mostly vegetarian.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#103
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A chimpanzee is already hard to control. I cannot imagine having a gorilla around. An angry chimpanzee can completely disfigure you in an instant. A gorilla is even more powerful than that. People underestimate how strong apes are. https://youtu.be/_9L7MugvoIE

Two very different apes, however. Chimpanzees hunt and kill monkeys. Gorillas are mostly vegetarian.

Interesting fact, thank you. I wasn't familiar with this.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#104
post #72

Related: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_(baboon) Jack was acting as an assistant to a disabled railway signalman in South Africa. > in his nine years of employment with the railway company, Jack never made a single mistake.

I wonder how many of human workers today could be replaced by baboons and the job would be done better.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#106

Good call sending the Gorilla away (though it didn't end well for the Gorilla), because there is no controlling a 200-pound angry wild animal when its upset: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Travis_(chimpanzee) And Bears, too: > Even though it may appear that the bear attacked for no reason, there was a reason. "You can train them and use as many safety precautions as you can, but you're still taking a chance. It's stil…

I'm not sure it's fair to call a gorilla a "wild animal" when they've been so socialized that they live in a human home, use the light switch and the bathroom, go on walks with the local kids and have deep familial relationships with humans, the only other animals they know. That's not to claim that I have any idea how dangerous or not the situation might have been but "wild" really sounds like the wrong word here. H…

Usually gorillas are considered peaceful compared with chimpanzees and humans.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#107
post #102

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two very different apes, however. Chimpanzees hunt and kill monkeys. Gorillas are mostly vegetarian.

Interesting fact, thank you. I wasn't familiar with this.

Watch some nature documentaries, wild researchers can often go and sit in close proximity with the gorillas, if humans are calm so are them. You wouldn't dare to do this with chimpanzees.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#108
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the multistate bar exam there is a invariably a version of this question: “Susie raised a pet squirrel from birth. It was very well-trained, calm, and seemed to think it was a dog. It would come when called, could do tricks, etc.” There would be some scenario that would follow where the test-taker would be asked to decide whether this indubitably gentle creature was a “wild animal.” The answer is always yes... tra…

To be fair, I'm not entirely sure that humans shouldn't be classified as "wild animal(s)" as well if that's the case.

I have more respect for middle school principals nowadays.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love animals and had dogs and cats living with my family. When I had my first kid, my wife had a large dog (a mixture between a labrador and a german shepard, and probably others - she found it as a puppy attached to a rope in the forest, left to die). The dog was extremely quiet, socialized and what not. When we brought our baby from the hospital, he was really curious. We left him sniff the baby and the dog appar…

My parents had a husky when I was born. The moment it bit my face was the last moment it spent in the house. Lived in the garage until it was (quickly) rehomed. I don't blame it; it wasn't like it was trying to rip my face off. I think it was just trying to assert itself in the pack order ahead of me. Except the pack leaders weren't too fond of that idea. Ironically, I now love huskies. But would also never get one,…

My grandad raised German shepherds as police dogs. When my father was a boy one of the adolescent dogs nipped his face.

Dad tells me that when he yelled out my grandad calmly grabbed the dogs collar, walked it around the back of the barn out of the way.

My dad, recovered from the shock and not badly injured just a scratch was on his way to the barn to tell his dad that all was okay and not to be too hard on the dog when BOOM shotgun blast rang out from that direction.

Different times and a story that shocked dog loving me - but in general dogs have had that drastic selection pressure from many thousands of generations.

Gorillas not so much.

Re: A gorilla who was brought up as a boy in an English village

#110
post #83

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the multistate bar exam there is a invariably a version of this question: “Susie raised a pet squirrel from birth. It was very well-trained, calm, and seemed to think it was a dog. It would come when called, could do tricks, etc.” There would be some scenario that would follow where the test-taker would be asked to decide whether this indubitably gentle creature was a “wild animal.” The answer is always yes... tra…

To be fair, I'm not entirely sure that humans shouldn't be classified as "wild animal(s)" as well if that's the case.

I guess this was true when we were still practicing slavery? The owner would be held strictly liable for slave inflicted attacks, so humans would be wild animals by that definition.
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