Fuck zoos anyways, amirite? This is much better. Paying a person a liveable wage? Giving them fresh air, sun, exercise? Making zoo-goers happy and educated? Now that’s what I call progress!!

  • like a decade ago, i read this syncretic southeastern NA indigenous cosmology once talking about the mythical origin of various phenomena, medicine, disease, etc. anyway, the myth of bears was that they used to be humans. they were distinct group of early humans who turned away from civilized life. building homes/settlements, sewing crops, engaging in trade, developing communal ritual. the humans who would become bears were like, “nah, this is not for us” and turned their backs on the other humans, hiding from them in the forests. the people saw them as a living example of primitivism, and not to be followed along their path because it made them “foolish”.

    the video of that goofus standing up right and waving reminded me of that.

  • Tankiedesantski [he/him]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    Do humans have an instinct to identify human-looking patterns in completely unrelated things?

    :skinner-thinking:

    No, it’s the Chinese who are inherently duplicitous.

    • DiltoGeggins [none/use name]@hexbear.netOP
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      0
      ·
      1 year ago

      No, it’s the Chinese who are inherently duplicitous.

      It was Chinese visitors to the zoo that raised the issue. The zoo is actually in a relatively small backwater (by Chinese standards at least) of only 11 million people. Not a lot of foreigners there to stir things up.

    • The_Jewish_Cuban [he/him]@hexbear.net
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      1
      ·
      1 year ago

      That’s insane. The article has a guy who talks about how they’ll stand on their hinds legs for long periods of time. Makes you wonder what the species would look like 2 hundred thousand years from now.

  • Farman [any]@hexbear.net
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    1
    ·
    edit-2
    1 year ago

    Sun bears are tropical so they are thiner because of allens rule, so their proortions are more humanlike. When bears stand uprigth they stand on their heels unlike most large mamals. Thats why their posture looks earily human. And thats why sir berington remained undiscovered for so long. As a contrast take daji, since she was a fox spirit she walked on the balls of her feet. Leading to the misconception that her feet were small, and ultimatley to the practice of footbinding.