Ice Age Theme Park

Rabies

not sure if this is the right place to post this.
monty move this to a more diferent board if you feel the need.

saw this article on sky news today.

Scientists aim to take the mammoths and other fearsome beasts back to Siberia where they will create a modern day prehistoric park.

Sounds like science fiction? Well, scientists are confident woolly mammoths will be roaming the Siberian planes within two decades.

what do people think of this.
i cant see it happening.
animal rights groups will go crazy if it is ever tried.

but yet the idea sounds cool, imagine going to see mammoths roaming around in siberia. an ice age version of jurassic park

do you think technology like this will be allowed to keep present day animals alive and not allow them do die out though our stupidity, deforestation, pollution etc.

or will the law of the land rule, if an animal can't surive then let it die out. that is the way it has happened for millions of years.

can we play god with the animals of this world.
the possibility of never letting a species die out is now within our grasp.

koneko

Dear God, did those people not see Jurassic Park?

JustHalf

I think it would be pretty sweet.

SYL

Not sure if Animal Rights would have a say on this, I mean, a 4 ton mammoth is hardly comparible to a cat or a dog or anything. And it begs the question, if its been cloned, is it still an animal or is it something else????

Kraken

more to the point if its already dead and its brought back to life and back out of extinction the only probabal complaint would be that it would upset the eco system as it would like. but have to say id go to see that. me may even be able to see what happened to them weither they became extinct or just evolved in something else. why dont they bring back the dodo that was a cool bird a bit stupid but like so are some people i know.

Gaz

Curious ..if they did this would the mammoth be born with mammoth instincts and be able to survive or with it simply be an African elephant with hair that would surly die in Siberia ?

Is instinct enough to survive in the first place, alot of animals depend on there mothers to learn the skills needed to hunt etc etc.

It would be cool to see these animals but i think it could be cruel if the animal hasnt a hope of surviving on its own without human intervention.

Rabies

Curious ..if they did this would the mammoth be born with mammoth instincts and be able to survive or with it simply be an African elefant with hair that would surly die in Siberia ?

Is instinct enough to survive in the first place, alot of animals depend on there mothers to learn the skills needed to hunt etc etc.

good point.

if the mammoth is ever cloned how will it know what it is and learn to fend for its self.

i'm not too sure if cloned is the right word. they will use the original DNA of a mammoth and fuse it with a a present day elephant. the result will be a mammoth.

imagine the look on the mother elephants face when she drops out a very hairy baby

SYL

The mammoths (and god knows what else) would be probably hand-reared and nurtured all the way. It would be asking too much to just let them go about their own devices. I could never picture a guy hand-feeding a mammoth or a T-Rex or something though, it would just destroy my childhood fantasies about dinosaurs and other things like that. In the books, they made them out to be 4 ton killing machines.....
<Zoo Keeper> "and here we see baba the T-Rex being washed by the zoo-keeper"
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!

sceptre

It'd make a hell of a movie if the creatures got out and roamed the theme park, multiplying in secret and destroying everything in sight.




... hang on, didn't someone do that already?

JustHalf

Originally posted by SYL
Not sure if Animal Rights would have a say on this, I mean, a 4 ton mammoth is hardly comparible to a cat or a dog or anything. And it begs the question, if its been cloned, is it still an animal or is it something else????

Why wouldn't it be an animal?

SYL

Wouldn't be an animal because it was created through Science not naturally, IMHO. I guess it depends on your own definition of what an animal is. I don't think Dolly the Sheep is an animal, its just a clone. Don't get me wrong though, I've nothing against it personally, but its just not.....whats the word I'm looking for....natural????

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

JustHalf

Originally posted by SYL
Wouldn't be an animal because it was created through Science not naturally, IMHO. I guess it depends on your own definition of what an animal is. I don't think Dolly the Sheep is an animal, its just a clone. Don't get me wrong though, I've nothing against it personally, but its just not.....whats the word I'm looking for....natural????

It's an animal. It's a cloned animal, but it's still an animal.

It's basic biology. Otherwise, identical twins aren't human.

seamus

Actually, anyone who's ever read The Lost World (Jurassic Park, the book, part II) that concept of 'Who will teach it?' is discussed throughout the whole book. I suppose we'll never know until (if) it's done. Some animals have been found to develop naturally, whether or not it's surrounded by it's own kind, other's cannot function without direction (A wildebeest? Pft. Fúck off, are ya kidding me? I'm one of those stripey things over there! - spot the quote). I'd assume it has something to do with how developed the animals brain is, eg fish don't need any sort of teaching or help, whereas we need to be within the nest for at least 5 years for any chance of survival.

Rabies

whereas we need to be within the nest for at least 5 years for any chance of survival.

in some cases its until the age of 18

Some animals have been found to develop naturally, whether or not it's surrounded by it's own kind, other's cannot function without direction .
....
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I'd assume it has something to do with how developed the animals brain is, eg fish don't need any sort of teaching or hel

thats true, but in this case we are dealing with mammals not fish. only a few fish in this world care for their young. most are hatched and left to fend for themselves.
mammals on the other hand, care for their young until they are of a certain age, then they can take care of themselves.
all animals are born with the instinct to survive, but how will that instict develop without the animal being taught in the correct manner.

for example. a few months ago i read an article about a female lion that adopted a baby gazzell. that sounds fine doesn't--> "ah, don't they look cute together".
what will happen when gazzell is in adult hood. if it meets another lion in the wild it will walk over to it thinking its friendly and end up becoming this evenings meal.