] There's a story of the orphaned lion who was raised by
] rangers in a South African game preserve, and who took as
] his role model their Australian cattle dog. And was very,
] very interested in wild antelope and learned to herd
] them.
]
] His interest in wild antelope was hard-wired. He had lots
] of innate behaviors, like sneaking, crouching and
] pouncing. But he had no idea at whom to direct that, so
] he pounced on his friends when he was playing with them
] -- the dog and the people. He was very interested in
] impalas, but the dog, his role model, herded them, so he
] herded them, too. Not a good way for a lion to make a
] living.

Excellent interview. The basic issue is that more survival behaviors that we would expect are taught rather than innate, and that the role of mimicry and education is critical for preserving wild animals as anything other than physical representations. The notion that reintroducing a naturally exitinct species may genetically be possible but without preserving their "culture" we still lose, was particularly interesting. I'll have to check out this book.

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