Home
In this issue
Nov. 25, 2009
Daniel Pipes: Islamism 2.0
JWisdom.com: No God … No You! Know God, Know You! with Rabbi Yitzchok Fingerer (8 minutes)
Nov. 24, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran : The Atheists' unintended gift
JWisdom.com: You are a Philanthropist with Aliza Bulow (5 minutes)
Nov. 23, 2009
JWisdom.com: Actually, it really is all about you with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff
Nov. 20, 2009
Rabbi David Aaron: How to make every second of your life come first
Caroline B. Glick: Whither American Jewry
Nov. 19, 2009
Binyamin L. Jolkovsky: Please Listen to this Godcast (5 minutes)
Jonathan Tobin: ADL Crosses the Line with Report Bashing Obama Critics
Nov. 18, 2009
Rabbi Yonason Goldson: What Judaism has to say about the secret of the Mona Lisa's smile
JWisdom.com: The (Jewish) Dating Game with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (8 minutes)
Nov. 17, 2009
Steven Emerson: How Does the 4th Amendment Impact Terror Finance Investigations?
JWisdom.com: If Frank Sinatra married Edith Piaf with Rabbi Y.Y. Rubinstein (2 minutes) Life lessons from what would be regarded as the most inappropriate lyrics ever sung
Nov. 16, 2009
The Jewish Ethicist by Rabbi Dr. Asher Meir : When borrowing is stealing
JWisdom.com: Deconstructing faith with Rabbi Warren Goldstein (9 minutes)
Nov. 13, 2009
JWisdom.com Sarah's subjective reality with Rabbi Sroy Levitansky ( 6 minutes)
Caroline B. Glick: Obama's failure, Netanyahu's opportunity
Nov. 12, 2009
The Kosher Gourmet By Marialisa Calta : A sweet sweet potato treat
JWisdom.com Does God get tired? with Rabbi Harvey Belovski ( 5 minutes)
Nov. 11, 2009
Rabbi Avi Shafran: Jews and money: When anti-Semitism isn't
JWisdom.com Marriages are not made in Heaven with Rabbi Lawrence Hajioff (VERY fast 15 minutes)
Nov. 10, 2009
Michael Doyle: Author of book exposing CAIR ordered to remove supporting documents from Web
JWisdom.com If the creation so loudly shouts the existence of the Creator, why aren't more people believers? with Rabbi Naftali Brawer (9 minutes)
Oct. 29, 2003
Mortimer B. Zuckerman: Graffiti On History's Walls (MUST-READ!)

Jewish World Review May 2, 2008 / 27 Nissan 5768

That's Why They're Called WILD Animals

By Greg Crosby


Printer Friendly Version
Email this article

http://www.JewishWorldReview.com | You might have read or heard about that recent story of the grizzly bear that killed a 39-year-old trainer with a bite to his neck. This particular grizzly appeared in the movie, "Semi-Pro" in which Will Ferrell's character wrestles a bear to promote his basketball team. Three experienced handlers were working with the bear at Randy Miller's Predators in Action facility when the bear bit Stephan Miller on the neck, said San Bernardino County sheriff's spokeswoman Cindy Beavers. Stephan Miller is Randy's cousin.


The center's staff used pepper spray to subdue and contain the bear and there were no other injuries, she said. A county Fire Department traumatic injury response unit responded about 3 p.m., but could not revive Miller. The center, located in the San Bernardino Mountains east of Los Angeles, says it has two grizzlies, and also trains lions, tigers, leopards, cougars and wolves for uses ranging from film and TV to advertising and education.


Sheriff's Sgt. Dave Phelps said the bear was a 5-year-old male named Rocky. The Predators in Action Web site says Rocky is 7 1/2 feet tall and weighs 700 pounds. Randy Miller doubled for Ferrell in the bear wrestling match, according to the center's site. In a February interview, Randy Miller called Rocky "the best working bear in the business," the San Bernardino Sun reported on its Web site Tuesday. In what seems now an eerie premonition, Randy Miller also said in the same article, "If one of these animals gets a hold of your throat, you're finished."


No word as of this writing on what will be done with the bear. He may very well be destroyed. Or maybe he'll just be kept caged in confinement for the rest of his life. So here we go again! People messing around with wild animals and getting themselves killed. Sorry if I come off sounding callous, but it's not the bear's fault that the guy is dead. The bear is just a bear. The man is supposed to be the more intelligent of the two, right? Wild animals should be left alone. Period.


This is just the latest example of the same old story - people getting into the faces of wild beasts that have the potential to kill. Remember when "crocodile hunter" Steve Irwin was killed fooling around a stingray back in 2006? Who was to blame for that - the stingray? He had no right getting that close to it. It was his fault. But no, the media made it into this horrible tragic accident, as if the guy was walking down a street minding his own business and a stingray jumped out of a window and killed him.


Then in 2005 two chimpanzees escaped from their cages and viciously attacked a visitor at an animal sanctuary. The chimps chewed off St. James Davis' nose and severely mauled his genitals and limbs before the son-in-law of the sanctuary's owner shot the animals to death. Davis and his wife, who was also bitten, had gone to there to celebrate the birthday of another chimpanzee that had lived with them for decades before they were forced to give the animal up. The chimpanzee was taken from their Los Angeles home in 1999 after biting off part of a woman's finger. The two attacking chimps obviously thought the people were there to do them harm. Chimps can be extremely dangerous creatures.


And don't forget the October 2003 story of Timothy Treadwell, who along with his girl friend, were killed and partially eaten by a bear or bears near Kaflia Bay, about 300 miles southwest of Anchorage, Alaska. Treadwell was a former drug addict, author and filmmaker from Malibu who became famous for trekking to Alaska's remote Katmai coast to commune with brown bears. He loved to ease up close to bears and whisper "I love you" in their ears. If his goal was to "become at one with" the bears, he finally succeeded.


A self-proclaimed eco-warrior, Treadwell made appearances on television talk shows and attracted something of a cult following. Chuck Bartlebaugh of "Be Bear Aware,'' a national bear awareness campaign, called Treadwell one of the leaders of a group of people engaged in "a trend to promote getting close to bears to show they were not dangerous. Not dangerous, that is, until they eat you.


I know I keep repeating myself here, but I really wish these people would leave animals in the wild alone. Don't try to be their friends. Don't bring them into our "civilization." Don't attempt to communicate with them. Just leave them the hell alone. Believe me that would make everybody, especially the animals, much happier.


And as far as animals acting in the movies are concerned, with all the special effects, sophisticated process shots, and computer generated images that can be done today, there really is no reason to use wild animals at all any more in television and film productions. Wise up. Deal with your own species, people, and let the other creatures on this planet be. That way no one will get hurt.

Every weekday JewishWorldReview.com publishes what many in the media and Washington consider "must-reading". Sign up for the daily JWR update. It's free. Just click here.


JWR contributor Greg Crosby, former creative head for Walt Disney publications, has written thousands of comics, hundreds of children's books, dozens of essays, and a letter to his congressman. A freelance writer in Southern California, you may contact him by clicking here.

Greg Crosby Archives

© 2006, Greg Crosby

Insight (Our Columnists)

 Arnold Ahlert
 Mitch Albom
 Michael Barone
  Dave Barry
 Tony Blankley
 Andy Borowitz
 David Broder
 Stratfor Briefing
 Mona Charen
 Linda Chavez
 Ann Coulter
 Greg Crosby
 Larry Elder
 Suzanne Fields
 John Fund
 Frank J. Gaffney
 Lloyd Garver
 Jonah Goldberg
 Julia Gorin
 Jonathan Gurwitz
 Paul Greenberg
 Lewis Grossberger
 Victor Davis Hanson
 Betsy Hart
 Nat Hentoff
 David Horowitz
 Laura Ingraham
 Cheri Jacobus
Jeff Jacoby
 Paul Johnson
 Jack Kelly
 Ed Koch
 Ch. Krauthammer
 Michael Ledeen
 John Leo
 David Limbaugh
 Kathryn Lopez
 Rich Lowry
 Michelle Malkin
 Jackie Mason
 Dick Morris
 Bill O'Reilly
 Jim Mullen
 Clarence Page
 Kathleen Parker
 Dennis Prager
 Wesley Pruden
 Tom Purcell
 Jonathan Rauch
 Celia Rivenbark
 Robert Robb
 Cokie & Steve Roberts
 Pat Sajak
 Debra J. Saunders
 Culture Shlock
 Roger Simon
 Michael Smerconish
 Thomas Sowell
 Mark Steyn
 John Stossel
 Cal Thomas
 Bob Tyrrell
 Diana West
 Dave Weinbaum
 George Will
 Walter Williams
 Byron York
 Mort Zuckerman

'Toons
 Robert Arial
 Chuck Asay
 Baloo
 Chip Bok
 Dry Bones
  Lisa Benson
 John Branch
 Gary Brookins
 John Cole
 J. D. Crowe
 John Deering
 Brian Duffy
 Everything's Relative
 Mallard Fillmore
 Jake Fuller
 Bob Gorrel
 Joe Heller
 David Hitch
 Jerry Holber
 Steve Kelley
 Jeff Koterba
 Dick Locher
 Chan Lowe
 Ranan R. Lurie
 Jimmy Margulies
 Rick McKee
 Michael Ramirez
 Kevin Siers
 Jeff Stahler
 Ed Stein
 Danna Summers
 John Trever
 Gary Varvel
 Kirk Walters

Lifestyles
 How 2
 Lori Borgman
 The Savvy Consumer
 Elder matters
 Fixit
 Dr. Peter Gott
 GET A JOB! by Marty Nemko
 Richard Lederer
 Tech Maven
 Every Monday Matters
 Nutrition Myths
 Bookmark These
 Bruce Williams
 How Stuff Works