Mar10
Chimpanzee in Zoo Hurls Rocks at Gawkers
Posted at 02:05 PM | Permalink
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Comments (9)
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Can you blame him? If I'd been snatched from my family and forced to live on public display, I'd probably start throwing things too. Santino has also been observed tapping on concrete boulders to find weak spots and breaking off loose chunks to add to his arsenal.
Researchers say that Santino is demonstrating the ability to plan and think about the future. We thought this was already obvious, but some people persist in the mistaken belief that animals act only on "instinct," while we humans always act with intelligence. Well, guess what? Chimpanzees are clearly intelligent, and yet they are still bred and raised to be shown off in zoos, circuses, and other forms of so-called "entertainment." What will it take for these animals to get the respect that they deserve?
Posted by Lianne Turner
TAGGED:
monkey business zoos chimpanzees santino sweden
Comments
I read this in the news this morning too! Why don't people get that he is throwing rocks because he is pissed he is enclosing in a zoo? I don't get it.
Posted by: Laura | March 10, 2009 02:52 PM
@Laura
When I was little at a local zoo there was a monkey named Barney that would spit at anybody my mother told it to for some reason.....it was scary...especially considering one time it almost ended up enciting a mob to beat the crap out of my mom.
Good times. :)
But yeah monkeys+wild=happy monkey.
Posted by: Pepsi One is Fun | March 10, 2009 05:51 PM
He is expressing himself perfectly normally--he has every right to be furious at his imprisonment.
Posted by: Kelley | March 10, 2009 05:58 PM
i remember this monkey at Busch Gardens that looked absolutely miserable...he just sat under this cliff thing with his arms crossed, i felt so bad for him
Posted by: anonymous | March 10, 2009 09:52 PM
Woohoo! Go Santino! I think it's awesome that he's fighting back. It's a bit worrying what will happen to him if he hurts one of those gawkers, or worse yet, one of his captors, but hey - he got the attention of the researchers. And 'the public', and proved to them that animals aren't stupid. Hopefully the humans will be clever enough to stop treating them as if they are soon.
Posted by: Lisa | March 11, 2009 12:53 AM
Perhaps this is Santino's only form of entertainment...I certainly found it amusing....
Posted by: Rev. Meg Schramm | March 11, 2009 11:16 AM
My local news cast used this story and made a joke out it. It was so not a joke to me. Even in this animal's distress all we can do is laugh at him and wonder....how intelligent he is. Humans are so unkind its stunning.
Posted by: Joanna | March 11, 2009 12:29 PM
Rock on Santino, literally! One day they will understand.
Posted by: Chelsea Patterson | March 11, 2009 03:20 PM
TONIGHT WE HAVE SEEN THE BIRTH OF THE PLANET OF THE APES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Eileen | March 20, 2009 09:35 AM