Mother bear kills cub and then itself

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The discussion centers around a disturbing article detailing a mother bear's tragic actions after her cub was restrained. The bear reportedly broke free from its cage upon hearing her cub's distress, only to inadvertently harm it while trying to rescue it, leading to both the cub's death and her own. Participants express concern about the mental capacity of animals, questioning whether such behavior could be considered "normal" or indicative of suicidal tendencies in animals under extreme stress, akin to conditions faced by livestock before slaughter. There is skepticism regarding the article's portrayal of the bear's actions, with some suggesting it anthropomorphizes the bear to evoke human emotions and increase readership. The conversation also touches on broader themes of animal suffering and human empathy, with participants expressing disgust at the treatment of animals and the indifference shown by some people towards their suffering.
206PiruBlood
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Alright so this is one of the more bizarre articles I have read in recent history...thought you might be interested.

The witness also claimed that a mother bear broke out its cage when it heard its cub howl in fear before a worker punctured its stomach to milk the bile.

The workers ran away in fear when they saw the mother bear rushing to its cub's side.

Unable to free the cub from its restraints, the mother hugged the cub and eventually strangled it.

It then dropped the cub and ran head-first into a wall, killing itself.

http://news.asiaone.com/News/Latest%2BNews/Asia/Story/A1Story20110805-292947.html


Feel free to discuss the article but I was more interested in the mental capacity of the bear to perform this. Is this "normal"? Do other animals display suicidal behavior under sustained harsh conditions - like many of the cows, and chickens experience before being slaughtered?

Poor bears :(
 
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More likely, it was panic...both strangling the cub trying to carry it away, and then injuring herself so badly running into walls looking for an escape.
 
I really doubt it was trying to kill itself. It was probably just very scared and did something stupid.
 
Some of these chinese people make me sick.
 
A lot of things some people do make me sick. Most people have better sense.

I wonder if the article was doctored to give anguishing human qualities to the mother bear so they could sell more reprints.
 
The world's suffering never ceases to amaze. Distribution of such articles does help bring light to bad situations and puts pressure on them to stop.
 
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Some times i am disgusted by human nature, this is one of them.
 
Anthropomorphism? Is that the term for when humans project human stuff onto rocks and animals?
 
DoggerDan said:
Anthropomorphism? Is that the term for when humans project human stuff onto rocks and animals?

I'm sorry, but the way you word this I can't help but think of monkeys throwing poop.

As an aside, this thread has made me wonder about how Gus is doing at the Central Park Zoo (http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/06/06/after-24-years-suddenly-alone-at-the-central-park-zoo/").
 
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  • #10
unbearable for mother.
 
  • #11
It even says in the article it's not uncommon for the bears to try to kill themselves
 
  • #12
Some of these chinese people make me sick.

Couldn't have said better...

The people who do this realize the bears are suffering, because they try to suicide. But they just don't care, how can they have no empathy at all?
 

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