We listened to a podcast about Lucy. Lucy was a chimpanzee that was raised as human to see how human chimps could be. Lucy learned sign language and was smart enough to describe things she didn't know the word for using other words in her vocabulary. She became attracted to human men, not male chimps. At around age 11 Lucy got to the mature age where chimps go a little crazy in captivity and she was kept in a cage. When the family couldn't take it any longer they decided to try and rehabilitate her into the wild. The lady who worked on it ended up moving to a deserted island with Lucy and lots of other chimps raised in captivity. The chimps just wanted her food and human things so she had to build a giant cage for herself to live in. It took years before Lucy would finally eat the food in the wild. The lady returned to the island to check on the chimps about a year after she left, and they all came to greet her. Lucy gave her a hug before following the other chimps away. When she returned to the island the next time she found Lucy's skeleton near where her cage had been, and the best guess as to what had happened was that Lucy had shot by poachers.
What did Lucy teach us about chimpanzees?
She taught us that so much of who we are comes from how we've been socialized. Nurture vs. Nature. Even though she was a chimpanzee, she acted human because that's how she was raised.
What did Lucy teach us about being human?
She taught us that being human isn't just a "human thing." Lucy acted like a human and did human things even though she wasn't human.
Do you have a different perspective of chimps after the story?
Before hearing this story I didn't know how strong chimpanzees are. For not a whole lot of difference in intelligence, there's a huge difference in strength. I also didn't know they become difficult at around 10 years of age.
Was the experiment worthwhile?
I don't think it was worthwhile because Lucy never understood what was being asked of her when she was released, or that she was an experiment.
How does Lucy's end make you feel?
I thought it was really sad. It was unfair to ask Lucy to go from being a "human" to being a wild chimp with no explanation and expect her to understand. She spent her whole life around humans, it was a culture shock to be released into the wild.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Thinking Like a Mountain
An ecosystem only works when every plant and animal is connected together in a balance, a harmony that equalizes the predators, and the prey, and creates a symmetric bond. Aldo Leopold came to understand this during a hunting trip, when he witnessed this harmony in nature.
Leopold goes on a hunting trip and sees a wolf swim across a river below them. The old wolf is met by a pack of grown pups who greet her excitedly. Leopold and his buddies start shooting the wolves, excited to kill them. Then as they watch the old wolf die, they see a fire in her eyes that makes him realize there is a balance to the mountain, and he has just disrupted it. Leopold comes to understand that a mountain needs its wolves, because without wolves to eat the deer, the deer eat everything on the mountain, leaving it bare.
This article was really sad. I was amazed to read about how the hunters shot the wolves without hesitation! To them that was a great opportunity, but to our generation, it seems inhuman. There was a lot of descriptive language, which helped me to connect. I understood what he was saying about the mountain being eaten alive. It was awful for me to think about them killing the wolves so easily.
Leopold goes on a hunting trip and sees a wolf swim across a river below them. The old wolf is met by a pack of grown pups who greet her excitedly. Leopold and his buddies start shooting the wolves, excited to kill them. Then as they watch the old wolf die, they see a fire in her eyes that makes him realize there is a balance to the mountain, and he has just disrupted it. Leopold comes to understand that a mountain needs its wolves, because without wolves to eat the deer, the deer eat everything on the mountain, leaving it bare.
This article was really sad. I was amazed to read about how the hunters shot the wolves without hesitation! To them that was a great opportunity, but to our generation, it seems inhuman. There was a lot of descriptive language, which helped me to connect. I understood what he was saying about the mountain being eaten alive. It was awful for me to think about them killing the wolves so easily.
Monday, September 2, 2013
TED Talk About Lions and Leopards
We think we know and understand everything. We are the intelligent ones, the ones who can think and speak, and that makes us special. But we underestimate animals, and overestimate ourselves.
Beverly and Dereck Joubert have spent years studying and filming the lions and leopards of Africa. They followed a baby leopard they named Lachadema, meaning light from the sky, for 4 and half years since she was a young cub. She got comfortable with them to climb in their jeep once, but they understood the importance of teaching her not to do that. On Lachadema's first hunt, she killed a baboon, later discovering it had a young baby. She took care of it for many hours, which was incredible and amazing to the filmers. In the 5 years they worked with Lachadema, 10,000 leopards were legally shot, not including the leopards killed by poachers. When they were born there were 450,000 lions, 45,000 tigers, 50,000 cheetahs, and 700,000 leopards. Now there are only 20,000 lions, 3,000 tigers, 12,000 cheetahs, and 50,000 leopards left. When a male lion is killed, a new male will take over the pride, killing all the cubs and some of the lionesses. For that one one male, between 20 and 30 lions are killed. If the lions disappear, whole ecosystems in Africa will disappear too.
This video was heartbreaking for me. All those beautiful creatures killed for fur, killed for sport. The downfall of these populations in such a short time is incredible, horrible. These amazing animals are so strong and graceful and beautiful, a dying species. The footage that was captured was amazing. They got footage of lions trying to take down an elephant, and saw how strong the will to survive can be, even after hope is lost. Big cats are my favorite animals, so this video was personal for me, and hit home. Someday I'd like to be able to say I've helped make a difference for these predators.
Beverly and Dereck Joubert have spent years studying and filming the lions and leopards of Africa. They followed a baby leopard they named Lachadema, meaning light from the sky, for 4 and half years since she was a young cub. She got comfortable with them to climb in their jeep once, but they understood the importance of teaching her not to do that. On Lachadema's first hunt, she killed a baboon, later discovering it had a young baby. She took care of it for many hours, which was incredible and amazing to the filmers. In the 5 years they worked with Lachadema, 10,000 leopards were legally shot, not including the leopards killed by poachers. When they were born there were 450,000 lions, 45,000 tigers, 50,000 cheetahs, and 700,000 leopards. Now there are only 20,000 lions, 3,000 tigers, 12,000 cheetahs, and 50,000 leopards left. When a male lion is killed, a new male will take over the pride, killing all the cubs and some of the lionesses. For that one one male, between 20 and 30 lions are killed. If the lions disappear, whole ecosystems in Africa will disappear too.
This video was heartbreaking for me. All those beautiful creatures killed for fur, killed for sport. The downfall of these populations in such a short time is incredible, horrible. These amazing animals are so strong and graceful and beautiful, a dying species. The footage that was captured was amazing. They got footage of lions trying to take down an elephant, and saw how strong the will to survive can be, even after hope is lost. Big cats are my favorite animals, so this video was personal for me, and hit home. Someday I'd like to be able to say I've helped make a difference for these predators.
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