Fun_People Archive
16 Oct
Is it getting stupid in here, or is it just me?

Date: Sun, 16 Oct 94 17:32:14 PDT
To: Fun_People
Subject: Is it getting stupid in here, or is it just me?

[A refreshing example of putting logic ahead of species loyalty... -psl]

Forwarded-by: "pardo@cs.washington.edu" <pardo@cs.washington.edu>
Forwarded-By: tomj@microsoft.com
<forwards bitten off>

              Alaskans rally around polar bear that mauled 2 people

                            Copied w/o Permission from
                              Lawrence Eagle Tribune
                                    29-Sep-94

  ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP)- A polar bear that chewed on a couple of folks
  may seem an unlikely cult hero. But this is Alaska, and, well, things
  are different here.

  Not that people don't feel sympathy for those nursing their wounds,
  it's just that Alaskans think you get what you deserve when you act
  stupid around a wild animal - even one that lives in a zoo.

  "I feel sorry for the people who got hurt, but in both cases it was
  their own fault," says Sammye Seawell, director of the Alaska Zoo in
  Anchorage, where Binky the polar bear lives.

  The first problem arose in July, when an Australian tourist paid a
  high price for venturing too close to Binky's cage.

  The woman was climbing over the second of two safety rails to get a
  close-up photo when the 850-pound bear stuck his head through the
  bars and grabbed her in his jaws.

  She escaped with a broken leg and bite wounds. Another visitor caught
  the scuffle on videotape, including a shot of Binky pacing around his
  pen later with the woman's red and white running shoe in his mouth.

  That attack spawned a T-shirt featuring Binky, the shoe and the words
  "Send more tourists - this one got away."

  Alaska shook its collective head and chalked the mauling up to
  tourist naivete. The woman later earned a measure of local respect by
  admitting she was at fault and promising not to sue.

  Six weeks later, the 20-year-old bear was back on the front page. Two
  Anchorage teenagers decided - apparently after a long night of
  drinking - to take a dip in the pool Binky shares with his furry
  companion, Nuka.

  Police say the pair snuck into the zoo and were stripping down in
  front of the cage when Binky showed up and locked his jaws onto one
  of them.

  The teen was pulled away by his friend, but not before Binky had left
  him with leg injuries. Both teens face trespassing and underage
  drinking charges.

  Since then, it's been take-no-prisoners Binkymania.

  There are jokes - "The state won't be asking for any jail time for
  the kid - it already has its pound of flesh."

  There are more hot-selling T-shirts - "Binky for Governor: Take a
  Bite Out of Crime." There is music - a local comedy revue worked up a
  rap song by "Bad Blood Binky" that includes the lines "Drink a case
  of Bud and act real cool - Like a teenage mutant brain-dead fool."

  There have been editorial cartoons - one shows Binky saying to Nuka,
  "Mauled teen-ager, my butt - how about 'Hero bear prevents youth from
  drowning?'"

  And there have been letters to the editor of the Anchorage Daily
  News. Lots of them, all pro-Binky.

  "When foolish people place their name on Binky's dinner menu, we
  should have the decency to allow Binky to eat his entire meal, in
  peace," one said.

  Another encouraged zoo keepers to set aside a day for people to come
  and play with Binky if they want to: "This program would solve two
  problems. The food bill for Binky would be reduced and the test
  scores for our schools would certainly rise."

  Zoo director Seawell says she's gotten more than 100 letters from
  around the world, and not one of them blamed the bear.

  To protect the bears from the visitors, the zoo has erected two
  strands of electric wire outside the cage and installed a motion
  detector that blares an alarm.

------- End of Forwarded Message

© 1994 Peter Langston