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-Short Attention Span Theater-
10,000 wildebeest drown in freak accident
2007-10-03
Conservationists were in tears last week as over 10,000 wildebeest drowned in a freak accident – that’s over 1% of the total species population and over three times the life-loss of 911.
3333 wildebeests died on 9-11? Who knew? Which tower were they in?
There was no unusual flooding at the time and no extraneous circumstances to the deaths, so what went wrong?
Arabs hijacked planes and dove them into the herd?
Every year, over a million wildebeest undertake an epic voyage of over 2,000 miles. From their calving grounds: the Serengeti Plain of Tanzania to the lush Kenyan vegetation to the north of the continent, the animals are followed by herds of zebras and ThomsonÂ’s gazelles. This year however, something went disastrously wrong. The wildebeest were attempting to ford KenyaÂ’s Mara River at an incredibly dangerous point. They did not realize how steep the banks were until it was far too lateÂ… The first few animals failed to cross, while others continued to stampede behind.
"It's a stampede, Tex!"
"Cut the herd, Slim!"
Terilyn Lemaire, a conservation worker with the Mara Conservancy witnessed the accident. She describes how once the wildebeest, “jumped into the water, they were unable to climb up either embankment onto land and, as a result, got swept up by the current and drowned.” The final result…?

Thousands of lifeless bodies washed up on the muddy banks of Kenya’s Mara River. Some floated downriver, others found obstacles. Underneath a bridge, a pungent island of carcasses piled up. For the scavengers of this world - the crocodiles, storks, and vultures, their next meal was an easy one. However, the next few weeks will be hazardous – the health of the water, the lifeblood of the Serengeti landscape will no doubt be affected.

Lemaire added that “I would imagine that such a significant decrease in population would have an effect….but what that effect would be and to what extent, I cannot say.”
Posted by:Delphi

#18  It is still not what you could call a "fun job."

Hey, the pay is low but the tips are big.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-03 22:00  

#17  From Mogambo:

Clark Gable: Those are called Thompson's gazelles.

Grace Kelly: Who is this Thompson to have gazelles named after him?

Ava Gardner (very sour): He was a third baseman for the Giants who hit a home run once.
Posted by: Eric Jablow   2007-10-03 21:07  

#16  One hell of a regional-local barbecue - too bad Dubya + Moud, Kucinich + 2008 Dems are not on good terms right now. Hollywood will always have CHarleston Heston and Muslim-Chritian party scene as per El-CID. *OTOH, 10,000 wildebeesties yet many Africans go hungry - whats the purpose of having Genetic/Bio-Engineers that can't feed the hungry???
Posted by: JosephMendiola   2007-10-03 20:56  

#15  Um, yeah. Conservationists were in tears? Over a herd of stupid Wildebeest? It's happened before. There was a mass drowning of more than 5000 animals as I recall some 10 or 12 years ago. Each time, they come back stronger.

Besides, Crocs and Vultures gotta eat, don't they?
Posted by: mcsegeek1   2007-10-03 20:51  

#14  Heh. We could probably work a gay wildebeest/ass-teriod joke in here, but I'm still creeped out by the whoopi-pelosi thing.

Wildebeests have been wildebeesting for the last few millennia and this cannot be the first time a herd-load of them have drowned crossing a river. You will notice that there are still oodles of them around.
Posted by: SteveS   2007-10-03 20:36  

#13  Thanks, moose. Between that image and the Whoopi Goldberg/Nan Pelosi image, I'ma not gonna sleep tonight.

Oh well, just one more reason to love Rantburg U., though, LOL! I absolutely do "learn summin' new every day" here.
Posted by: BA   2007-10-03 20:11  

#12  AlanC: African elephants are mean, aggressive and dangerous. Asian elephants are far more docile. Ironically, Asian elephants that were raised in the wild are far easier to tame than those bred in captivity.

However, during mating season, all elephants are dangerous as all get out. Artificial insemination was often lethal to elephant handlers, until they finally invented a torpedo-sized electrical device to insert into the tail pipe of male elephants, to stimulate their prostate.

It is still not what you could call a "fun job."
Posted by: Anonymoose   2007-10-03 19:21  

#11  Al Gore says: don't interfere with Mother Nature because she always gets it right.
Posted by: McZoid   2007-10-03 19:12  

#10  Zebras have a really nasty tendency to bite that no one has been able to breed out of them. If you've ever been bitten by a horse, then you know just how much of a deal-breaker this is.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-03 18:31  

#9  Ten thousand carcasses polluting the Mara River - women, children, and wildebeests hardest hit.
Posted by: NYT   2007-10-03 18:20  

#8  they ain't dumb; better to drown than be immoliated by a big-assed rock in 2029.
Posted by: USN, Ret.   2007-10-03 17:32  

#7  Your cute Zebra has that same kick-ass problem about domestication. It's been tried.
Posted by: Thomas Woof   2007-10-03 16:56  

#6  WXJ,

from what I've seen and read African animals are NOT domesticatable which was part of the reason great civilizations didn't succeed there.

Don't remember the reasons but some species just can't be tamed like a cow, goat or sheep can. It wasn't through lack of effort.

Apparently the African Elephant cannot be trained in the same way as an Indian Elephant can.
Posted by: AlanC   2007-10-03 15:39  

#5  The smarter wildebeest didn't drown and will go on to breed. Evolution in action.
Posted by: mojo   2007-10-03 15:13  

#4  When I consider the abundance of wildebeest and zibras, I wonder why the Africans never domestigated them. But then, they never invented the wheel either. Whatever.
Posted by: wxjames   2007-10-03 14:42  

#3  Conclusion: Wildebeest's are pretty fuckin stupid.
So much for those "jungle instincts"...
Posted by: tu3031   2007-10-03 14:12  

#2  Comparing a wildebeest accident to 9/11. Somebody needs a sense of proportion.
Posted by: Jonathan   2007-10-03 14:08  

#1  Bewilderbeest.
Posted by: Zenster   2007-10-03 14:07  

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