San Francisco Times: Lion Mauls Intern, Killed
A tragic event occurred at the Cat Haven exotic animal refuge Wednesday. Dianna Hanson, a newly hired intern, was mauled by a 4 year old lion named Couscous. Authorities do not know what caused the attack, but do know the mauling occurred inside the cat's enclosure at a time with only a few staff present. When the discovered the injured Hanson, she was alive, but lying on the ground with the lion standing nearby. After several failed attempts to lure the lion into a different pen, authorities had to shoot the lion in order to reach the girl, who died on the scene.
Obviously there is controversy as to the cause of the attack, actions taken by authorities, etc. while what spurred the attack is unknown, Cat Haven officials said that staff is generally not allowed into enclosures. But, all safety requirements were met, and the last infraction on a short list occurred three years ago. Another exotic animal enthusiast, Tippi Hendren, says that, "it is always the human's fault." She also believes that shooting the lion was a poor choice. This was also a drastic change for Couscous, who was seen as a behaved cub on Ellen in 2010.
A few more statisctis: since 1990, 21 people have been killed, 246 mauled. Since that time, 254 cats have also escaped and 143 killed.
I think there was probably a reason the intern was in the enclosure. Co-workers describe her as dedicate and smart, and her father called it her "dream job." How valid that reason is, I do not know. I also would say that shooting the lion, while unfortunate, was necessary, because at that point Hanson was still alive and required attention.
So, what can we learn? We already know to be careful around dangerous animals, so I guess this serves as a harsh reminder. Obviously we are not the top of the food chain unless we have our tools.
Prayers and consolations to the Hanson family in this time of grief.
God Bless America
Thursday, March 21, 2013
Tuesday, March 12, 2013
Ricky the Third
Yes it is early in the week but it's one of those weeks, and so this is about my only chance, for those of you who are wondering.
So we all heard about the discovery of Richard III's bones. But for those of you who didn't get anything more than that, listen up.
It wasn't a chance discovery; and academic crew was actually looking for the bones, says the LA Times, and were simply lucky enough to find them in a spot that wasn't overrun by suburbia.
DNA testing was used to compare an sample to a known ancestor of Ricky's sister, and the match was all but identical.
Turns out we can now make assumptions about his death: all we really knew was that he was the last English king to die in battle, fighting against his successor Henry VII, first Tudor to usurp the throne, in 1485 . But his skull shows signs of extreme trauma, with at least two blade wounds that would have been fatal. Also, his feet were missing, probably caused by later disturbance, and the wrists were crossed, so they were likely tied together.
So who was this guy anyways? He was infamous as a homicidal tyrant, as popularly depicted by William Shakespeare, who ruled from 1483-85. And yes, for those of you who read the online packet, this was how the Tudors rose to power and led to James I on the throne. So, do keep in mind that history was sort of rewritten to give the Tudors a legitimate claim to the throne, which easily could lead to warped perspectives on Richard.
He died about age 32, which is accurate with the forensics results. He was about 5'8" but had scoliosis, so he probably appeared shorter. As the article reports, "Fans say Richard III was an enlightened, capable ruler whose important social reforms included the presumption of innocence for defendants and the granting of bail, which remain pillars of the legal system in Britain and the U.S."
But, no one does know what happened to his two nephews that he supposedly killed, who were his only competition to the throne.
So, what can we learn? Not much really. I mean, I guess if you're famous and want to stay that way, die in a spot that's hard to find under questionable circumstances, so that way people look for you and in 700 years you pop back up into the news... But if that's useful information to you, well, use it well I guess. But it sure makes for a good story, especially since we're starting Macbeth, and we just read about all this background for the origin of the Tudor line.
God Bless America
So we all heard about the discovery of Richard III's bones. But for those of you who didn't get anything more than that, listen up.
It wasn't a chance discovery; and academic crew was actually looking for the bones, says the LA Times, and were simply lucky enough to find them in a spot that wasn't overrun by suburbia.
DNA testing was used to compare an sample to a known ancestor of Ricky's sister, and the match was all but identical.
Turns out we can now make assumptions about his death: all we really knew was that he was the last English king to die in battle, fighting against his successor Henry VII, first Tudor to usurp the throne, in 1485 . But his skull shows signs of extreme trauma, with at least two blade wounds that would have been fatal. Also, his feet were missing, probably caused by later disturbance, and the wrists were crossed, so they were likely tied together.
So who was this guy anyways? He was infamous as a homicidal tyrant, as popularly depicted by William Shakespeare, who ruled from 1483-85. And yes, for those of you who read the online packet, this was how the Tudors rose to power and led to James I on the throne. So, do keep in mind that history was sort of rewritten to give the Tudors a legitimate claim to the throne, which easily could lead to warped perspectives on Richard.
He died about age 32, which is accurate with the forensics results. He was about 5'8" but had scoliosis, so he probably appeared shorter. As the article reports, "Fans say Richard III was an enlightened, capable ruler whose important social reforms included the presumption of innocence for defendants and the granting of bail, which remain pillars of the legal system in Britain and the U.S."
But, no one does know what happened to his two nephews that he supposedly killed, who were his only competition to the throne.
So, what can we learn? Not much really. I mean, I guess if you're famous and want to stay that way, die in a spot that's hard to find under questionable circumstances, so that way people look for you and in 700 years you pop back up into the news... But if that's useful information to you, well, use it well I guess. But it sure makes for a good story, especially since we're starting Macbeth, and we just read about all this background for the origin of the Tudor line.
God Bless America
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)