Comments on: The Science Behind Why Chimpanzees Are Not Pets http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/ Where science collides with life, slams into culture, crashes with politics, and gets totaled. Tue, 27 Sep 2011 17:28:30 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: Why Chimpanzees Are NOT Pets | The Intersection | U Reader | Your daily news stop station ... http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-37305 Why Chimpanzees Are NOT Pets | The Intersection | U Reader | Your daily news stop station ... Sun, 22 Nov 2009 10:10:48 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-37305 [...] assimilate the sobriety of this issue. After watching, have certain to review Brian’s strange guest contribution on the scholarship at the back of since chimpanzees have been not pets next the [...] [...] assimilate the sobriety of this issue. After watching, have certain to review Brian’s strange guest contribution on the scholarship at the back of since chimpanzees have been not pets next the [...]

]]> By: Chimpanzees Are Not Pets | The Intersection | Discover Magazine http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-35801 Chimpanzees Are Not Pets | The Intersection | Discover Magazine Fri, 13 Nov 2009 14:49:37 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-35801 [...] to understand the gravity of this issue. After watching, make sure to read Brian’s original guest contribution on the science behind why chimpanzees are not pets below the [...] [...] to understand the gravity of this issue. After watching, make sure to read Brian’s original guest contribution on the science behind why chimpanzees are not pets below the [...]

]]> By: Dan S. http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14196 Dan S. Thu, 05 Mar 2009 00:18:45 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14196 "please, please, don't fall under the influence of HSUS. They want to end all interactions between humans and animals and bring about the extinction of all domestic species." Cite? “please, please, don’t fall under the influence of HSUS. They want to end all interactions between humans and animals and bring about the extinction of all domestic species.”

Cite?

]]> By: SLC http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14195 SLC Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:09:40 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14195 Re Ahcuah What do they say, Chimpanzees make war, bonobos make love. Re Ahcuah

What do they say, Chimpanzees make war, bonobos make love.

]]> By: Judy http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14198 Judy Wed, 04 Mar 2009 18:10:03 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14198 I worked in a zoo. I don't believe any wild species should be kept as a pet. But please, please, please, don't fall under the influence of HSUS. They want to end all interactions between humans and animals and bring about the extinction of all domestic species. If we're crazy enough to want to keep wild animals as pets when we can choose a domestic animal instead, what will be the consequences of eliminating all the tame dogs and cats? I shudder to think. I worked in a zoo. I don’t believe any wild species should be kept as a pet. But please, please, please, don’t fall under the influence of HSUS. They want to end all interactions between humans and animals and bring about the extinction of all domestic species. If we’re crazy enough to want to keep wild animals as pets when we can choose a domestic animal instead, what will be the consequences of eliminating all the tame dogs and cats? I shudder to think.

]]> By: Ashutosh http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14197 Ashutosh Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:43:11 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14197 The plot of "Relatedness" vs "Ease of Domestication" clearly seems to be a scatter plot. It's pretty clear from the fact that I kept rather unrelated hydra in a jar by my bedside for a long time. The plot of “Relatedness” vs “Ease of Domestication” clearly seems to be a scatter plot. It’s pretty clear from the fact that I kept rather unrelated hydra in a jar by my bedside for a long time.

]]> By: BJN http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14199 BJN Wed, 04 Mar 2009 17:05:28 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14199 I don't understand the fixation on making this point repeatedly. Flogging a dead chimp it seems to me. Yes, chimps aren't good pets. It's not as if there's a big cultural shift to keeping chimps or other primates as pets. Hollywood fantasies include talking mice and killer rabbits, so I'm not too concerned that the portrayal of comic chimps in movies has created a mythology that encourages any reasonable citizen to adopt a chimp as a pet. It has to be difficult and expensive for private citizens to find and obtain a primate pet and I'm sure that along the way people learn why it's difficult and expensive. In the original post I objected to the thoughtless portrayal of wolves as inherently dangerous and deadly. They're not good pets for the reasons stated, but that qualifier wasn't part of the post. Wolves in the wild are nearly never aggressive toward humans, and exaggeration of their behavior is a big problem in efforts to save the species and reintroduce wolves into the wild. I also think that chimpanzee violence in nature (or what passes for a natural habitat these days) is real but hardly exceptional considering the behavior of the most deadly primate on the planet. I don’t understand the fixation on making this point repeatedly. Flogging a dead chimp it seems to me. Yes, chimps aren’t good pets. It’s not as if there’s a big cultural shift to keeping chimps or other primates as pets. Hollywood fantasies include talking mice and killer rabbits, so I’m not too concerned that the portrayal of comic chimps in movies has created a mythology that encourages any reasonable citizen to adopt a chimp as a pet. It has to be difficult and expensive for private citizens to find and obtain a primate pet and I’m sure that along the way people learn why it’s difficult and expensive.

In the original post I objected to the thoughtless portrayal of wolves as inherently dangerous and deadly. They’re not good pets for the reasons stated, but that qualifier wasn’t part of the post. Wolves in the wild are nearly never aggressive toward humans, and exaggeration of their behavior is a big problem in efforts to save the species and reintroduce wolves into the wild.

I also think that chimpanzee violence in nature (or what passes for a natural habitat these days) is real but hardly exceptional considering the behavior of the most deadly primate on the planet.

]]> By: Ahcuah http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14201 Ahcuah Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:37:23 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14201 All of the discussion I've seen on this relates to chimpanzees. What about bonobos? Sure, they're still wild; sure, we shouldn't keep them and pretend they can be pets. But doesn't their social structure suggest that they might be less dangerous? (Or are they also as violent in other ways?) Or, if you had one, would you have to make sure to have sex with it often to keep it socialized? :-) All of the discussion I’ve seen on this relates to chimpanzees. What about bonobos?

Sure, they’re still wild; sure, we shouldn’t keep them and pretend they can be pets. But doesn’t their social structure suggest that they might be less dangerous? (Or are they also as violent in other ways?)

Or, if you had one, would you have to make sure to have sex with it often to keep it socialized? :-)

]]> By: frog http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14200 frog Wed, 04 Mar 2009 14:15:30 +0000 http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/intersection/2009/03/04/the-science-behind-why-chimpanzees-are-not-pets/#comment-14200 Are human beings a domesticated species? What would be the genetic traits of domesticated species -- from stress responses to neural crest migration? Do humans then show those traits, or not? Are human beings a domesticated species? What would be the genetic traits of domesticated species — from stress responses to neural crest migration? Do humans then show those traits, or not?

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