Over the years, a lot of staff have died in British safari parks, and several owners have been seriously injured as well. This is because Brits seem to have a remarkable case of overconfidence which, coupled with a general lack of knowledge regarding animal behavior, causes them to stroll into enclosures containing wild animals rather than first calling them up into holding units. The latest case in point, which occurred yesterday:
THIS is the British safari park owner who was savaged by a huge male lion after entering its enclosure in front of horrified onlookers. Distressing footage shows Mike Hodge being attacked by the big cat yesterday at the Makarele Predator Centre in Thabazimbi, South Africa. The Brit, who relocated from the UK with his wife Chrissy in 2003, is currently in hospital and is said to have sustained neck and jaw injuries.
Yes, quite. Well, that'll happen, old chap, as adult lions generally go for the head and neck. In the words of a friend of the park owner:
"He is no fool around lions and knows how to interact with them but clearly something went wrong" she said. Um...what went wrong is that he was a fool for entering the enclosure without first relocating the animal.
It's a Brit thing.
But being raised around animals does seem to bring certain benefits:
New research offers evidence for a claim made regularly by country music singers: Growing up with a little dirt under his nails may make a country boy a little shy. But compared to a born-and-bred city slicker, that country boy will grow up to be a stronger, healthier and more laid-back man.
The finding strengthens the suspicion that growing up in sanitized urban environments is making many of us more fragile when it comes to warding off certain diseases.
Basically, hygiene theory postulates that dirt's good, cows and horses are good, and a whole lot of other things that you don't encounter when being raised in an apartment in the city are good - because they condition developing immune systems to respond appropriately rather than going into overdrive.
And a Danish study published a couple of years ago, following nearly 3 million people, concluded that those born in densely-populated areas have a higher risk of developing schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and autism than their counterparts in rural areas. In fact, birth in an urban environment is associated with an increased risk for mental illness in general and for a broad range of specific psychiatric disorders.
When you consider that here in the USA, most leftists are in the big cities, they may be onto something. And around here, leftists claim that we need more density, more condo and apartment bunkers. They're sort of clamoring for more mental health issues, it seems.