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Summer
2003 Volume 52 Number 3 |
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ABOUT THE COVER
In 1995, USA Today reported that three-year old Jacob Swartz of Quinlan, Texas
was mauled by a cougar. His six-year old sister, Erin, also suffered injuries.
This was not some random, unpreventable attack in the woods; the cougar was the
family pet who escaped while his pen was being cleaned. The cougar was shot and
killed. Though big cats, like the cougar on our cover (photographed by Frans
Lanting/courtesy of Minden Pictures), may start out as cute and cuddly cubs,
they eventually grow into their wild and potentially dangerous natural selves.
Increasingly, people are keeping wild animals as pets: lions, tigers, bears,
bobcats, reptiles, amphibians, and rodents from across the globe. It is outright
dangerous to keep exotic animals as companions; they can hurt their human
attendants, escape and harm other domestic and native animals, and carry
diseases such as monkeypox that can be transferred to humans. Exotic animals in
poor facilities such as roadside zoos can pose similar dangers as their keepers
are ill-equipped to care for these animals appropriately. |
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