Cheetahs mauled by tourists fight back - and the surprise is?

The stupidity of some members of  the human race sometimes leaves me lost for words.

Today the Daily Mail reported on British holidaymaker Violet D’Mello,  mauled after entering an enclosure of cheetahs in South Africa while on holiday.

First off, I suppose I have to say I am pleased she was not killed and escaped with, relatively, minor injuries.

But that is as far as I shall go. This incident is the result of an opinion that animals are simply on this planet to provide food and entertainment to humans.

It leaves me with little sympathy for this woman, or any other tourist who finds themselves lunch for a “tame” crocodile or cuddly bear.

These stories are popping up more and more. A couple of weeks ago there was one floating around about a woman who had her face ripped off by someone’s pet chimpanzee.

“Pet chimpanzee” - those two words together should be enough to describe the ludicrousness of the situation.

The woman in question had been visiting a friend who “owned” (quotation marks because we don’t own animals) the chimp, so was a genuinely innocent victim.

Of course the animal was destroyed, its human entertainment value diminished after the attack.

Not only is it foolish, reckless and dangerous to use wild animals as toys, there has to come a point when humans starts showing more respect for the other creatures we share the planet with.

I blogged the other day about the Tiger Temple in Thailand where hoards of tourists are invited to maul tigers chained to the ground.

Hundreds of them all queue  up to have their photos taken grinning with a tiger’s head slumped in their lap.

And this place in South Africa seems to be the same sort of set up, a place for people with more money than sense to exploit wild animals in order to get a slightly more interesting holiday album.

Mrs D’Mello said she “never imagined for a moment they [the cheetahs] would attack an adult”.

Sweetheart, what did you expect a caged big cat to do while being poked and prodded by yourself as your husband took pictures?

Make a note to self – big cats (including cheetahs, lions, tigers, pumas, leopards) can bite, best not get too close.

Her equally dopey husband, who incidentally stood and took photos as his wife fell into the animal’s jaws, said they “seemed safe”.

Give me strength.....

He said: ‘We arrived the game reserve and there was an enclosure with two cheetahs inside. 

“There was a sign up saying that you could take a tour of the enclosure with a guide and stroke the cats.

“We decided to go for it as it all seemed safe, and at first the cheetahs were calm. We were in there with a local family who had young children.

“The guide was a young woman, who said we could go over and stroke the cheetahs.

“But as my wife went over to do so the animals got up and walked away.

“The guide said that at this time of the day they were a bit agitated.

“We walked away and as we did so one of the cheetahs leaped on a little girl who was in there.

“She screamed loudly and we turned to round to see what was happening. She fell on her stomach and the animal bit her thigh.”

I hate zoos or anything that involves keeping animals locked up in cages for human amusement.

I equally hate seeing children pulling and mauling dogs and cats. Not just because all animals are unpredictable, but also because if they did turn they would end up one  a one-way trip to the vets.

Mike Cantor, manager of the park in South Africa, where Mrs D’Mello was attacked said he had raised the two four-year-old cheetahs, brothers named Mark and Monty, since they were born.

The fact he wanted to make money out of them resulted in someone almost getting killed.

In my opinion, if they had been born in the wild, and left in the wild, it would probably  have been a better  for all involved.