Friday, March 18, 2011
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
A Blog designed for discussion of topics related to, but not limited to, Circus, Zoos, Animal Training, and Animal Welfare/Husbandry. Sometimes opening up the dialog is the best starting point of all. And if for nothing else when people who agree and don't agree, get together and start discussing it, it will open up a lot of peoples minds. Debate and discussion even amongst themselves opens a window where there wasn't one before.
2 comments:
Wade,
a couple of months ago you posted footage I beleive of Pablo Noels act, at the time I thought " gosh those females are HUGE", later you you posted these were castrated males, I then went directly to the near corner and placed my dunce cap squarely on head....
Can you give any background as to the use of castrated males in acts, reasons for doing so, and have you ever witnessed or seen the practice here in the U.S.
Vincent/San Diego
Vincent,
Some how I missed this question, sorry. Of course I have seen castrated males. It is very, very common in an species of animal in a captive situation, from dog's to horse's to cattle to camel's, to even elephant's, although not as common in elephant's due to the dangers of sedation.
Your use of the term "practice" may make it seem bad which it isn't. It is a way of preventing reproduction first and foremost, and to modify behavior om various degree's depending on the age at which the animal is castrated, altered, neutered,gelded. The only animal that has his appearance radically altered by castration is the male lion, and the jury has been out for centuries as to why he loses his mane, and it's a debate even today. Any time you see a larger then normal "female" lion, 99% of the time it will be a castrated male lion. Vasectomies are more common today, especially in zoo's as they are reversible and the mane, sorry main reason is the lion doesn't lose it's mane. But it is more dangerous because they animal has be be anesthetized a second time to reverse the procedure. Extremely rare species by all means vasectomy. Common as field mice, lions, tigers, etc. castrate and be done with it. A stallions spends his life living alone, a gelding spends his life living in a herd. Same deal with any species.
It's not a dunce hat by any means that you had on. Every person in the world, uniformed, has made the same assumption. Look at photo's I have posted in the past of lions in act's. You will see a number of them. Go to Showbiz Dave's blog and he has one on the side with Pat White. I had a number of castrated tigers, as has anybody else, as well as leopards. The only way you can tell on another animal to look between his legs.
tucsoncitizen.com/.../106101-denogean-performing-vasectomy-on-lion-is-no-easy-task/ -
Wade
Post a Comment