Family got out of car at Safari park

[Liberal_in_LA]

Boy attacked by cheetah in safari park

A Dutch safari park says a cheetah attacked and lightly injured a 9-year-old boy who got out of a car in an enclosure full of African animals.

Beekse Bergen Safari Park in the southern Netherlands says on its website the boy suffered a flesh wound on his arm in the attack Friday.

The boy was with his mother, a friend and another adult driving through the park when all four decided to get out of their car.

The park said in a statement that, "Sadly, they missed the warning signs telling them to keep doors and windows shut."

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2012/03/02/international/i112428S62.DTL#ixzz1nzg36zzV

pic from another website one of their Cheetahs:

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

1. A narrowly-missed Darwin award.

Why would anybody think it's a good idea to get out of a car while in an enclosure full of large carnivores?

[mimitabby]

5. you got that right!

[Ruby the Liberal]

2. My reaction to that title was "this will not end well".

Glad he was only lightly hurt, but jeez.

That cat is gorgeous.

[HangOnKids]

9. That cat Is The Shit!

The expression on his/her face just screams "And you are who, and get me some kibble." Beautiful creature. Amazing animal.

[monmouth]

12. And he just knows it! What a great pose. He could be a centerfold in a magazine...n/t

[Skittles]

15. that cat is supremely REGAL

yes INDEED

[FarCenter]

20. Kibble? Antelope guts would be far more to its taste.

[Buns_of_Fire]

23. I can hear the voiceover now: "You talkin' to ME?..." nt

[Ruby the Liberal]

24. LOL - perfect!

[Liberal_in_LA]

35. it sure is!

[lunatica]

3. I'm glad no one was hurt badly

If someone had been killed I'm sure they would have put the cheetah down.

[HopeHoops]

4. Darwin award.

[mimitabby]

6. hopefully the cheetah will not be harmed.

[stuntcat]

27. my first thought.

wild animal + human being = murdered animal

[Poll_Blind]

7. The adults in that story are, strictly-speaking, not fit to live on Earth.

I don't mean that in an angry or mean way. I mean it as a flat fact. In a Darwinian sense. They are simply not capable of understanding the environment in which they exist. This incident may seem chimerical but I've seen shades of this crossing the spectrum of behavior: Some people have to be reminded that the rest of the world is real.

The great tragedy here, beyond even the injury of the child? The ancestors of the adults going back to the beginning of humankind were all far more adept at existing and navigating through their environment than this inept progeny was. That's at least 3 million years of solid evolution pissed away by social training and poor cognitive choices.

That's just astounding to me. I mean, c'mon. Wild animals, folks.

PB

[dixiegrrrrl]

31. "Some people have to be reminded that the rest of the world is real."

Great comment.
Sadly a true one.

[Journeyman]

8. People need "warning signs" to keep away from Cheetahs? . . .

Must have a tattoo on their wrist reminding themselves to breathe. . .

[HangOnKids]

11. As My Ole Gran Henny Used To Say

"How some folks don't choke to death on their own toenails is beyond me."

[lastlib]

14. LOL!!

What a wise statement!

[Journeyman]

16. That's a keeper. . .

[PCIntern]

10. "It's only a flesh-wound!"

" 'tis but a scratch!"

[ellie]

13. Kitty over there!

[FirstLight]

17. Jurassic Park flashbacks...

stay in the car...?

[frogmarch]

18. Stupid people!

I live near Wind Cave National Park and Custer State Park in the Black Hills of South Dakota, and it's not uncommon to see tourists get out of their vehicles near bison herds to snap pictures of these huge animals. Some really stupid tourists have walked up to bison bulls, and other really stupid tourists have tried to put their children on the animals' backs to photograph them. There are signs everywhere warning against doing any of these things, but for some reason, tourists who are really stupid choose to believe they're at a petting zoo.

I am glad the boy attacked by a cheetah wasn't seriously hurt. Gah! Stupid people!

[Ruby the Liberal]

25. "tried to put their children on the animals' backs to photograph them"

My mind is just boggling at the thought of this. I am having a bit of cognitive dissonance trying to even picture someone thinking this would be a good idea or otherwise remotely advisable.

[frogmarch]

26. Some tourists

think that because the bison don't appear to be afraid of them, or because they don't always charge, they're tame.

Here's a photo fo some tourists approaching a bison in Yellowstone:

[FSogol]

28. "tried to put their children on the animals" - I saw that in person one time.

Gran Teton NP in the 1980s. Guy silently walks up, sets a four year old on the back of a bison and steps back to take a photo. Bison takes off and charges right thru the guy. Guy suffers a broken arm, nose, and cracked ribs. Crying kid tumbles off the back of the bison, unharmed. It happened so fast, I couldn't even shout a warning. Park Ranger called him a F'ing dumbass as they loaded him into an ambulance.

[frogmarch]

30. Wow, that must have been

a sight to see. Glad the child wasn't hurt, even though his f'ing dumbass dad was.

People sometimes try to cozy up to the bears too. What's sad is that when an animal is provoked and attacks its provoker, the animal is often disposed of.

[MineralMan]

19. Some folks are just incredibly stupid...

Morons abound.

I was at Yosemite one winter. There's a meadow at the south end of the park, right by the road, near the turnoff to the Badger Pass ski area, where many many deer gather. People feed them things like apples, so they're unafraid of humans. Signs say not to do that, but nobody pays any attention to it. I was there with my wife, watching the deer one time from inside our car, when a family drove up. They all got out of their car and started feeding the deer. Pretty soon, they were surrounded by deer. To my horror, the man, probably the father, picked up a toddler and tried to sit it on a big buck's back. The buck wasn't having any of that, as you'd expect, and reared up. The kid ended up on the ground, and dad got hooked by an antler. At that point, I got out of my car and, when the deer were a little ways from the family, ran toward the deer, shouting and clapping my hands loudly. They scattered instantly.

When I reached the family, I found that none of them were hurt much, although dad had a small wound on his bicep that was bleeding. I calmly said to the family, "Maybe it would be better if you got back in your car." They did. After that, I had some somewhat stronger words for the father.

[alphafemale]

22. People see deer as docile and benign.

Bambi could lay a serious hurt on you if he was spooked. Just with his hooves alone.

[Liberal_in_LA]

36. I saw a video of one standing on it's hooves kicking a guy

that famous clip of the deer kicking the hunter

[yawnmaster]

21. The kid will always have a story to tell now, especially if there is any scar. eom

[AnneD]

29. I use to see parents stop their cars to take pics.....

Of their kids in front of a grizzlies and their cubs in national parks.

Children a tender little morsel with no fur and crunchy bones.

I blame Walt Disney for under-estimating the stupidity of people. Luckily I never witnessed an attack, but I know they have happened and did not end well for either party involved.

[Liberal_in_LA]

34. Grizzlies! omg.

[Bruce Wayne]

32. You can't fix stupid. But apparently cheetahs can.

I feel bad for the cheetah in this story. It deserves at least some kind of consolation prize.

[Yavin4]

33. The Arrogance of Man.

And the disrespect to nature.

[Odin2005]

37. Why do people forget that these are WILD ANIMALS???

[Louisiana1976]

38. True. You have to expect animals to act like animals.