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Forum rules
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 (12-26-2019, 10:12 AM)John Opiyo Wrote: I like the rules. The challenge I expect is that nature lovers at times think more with their hearts and not the mind. I will give an example. In the conflict between big cats and livestock farmers, farmers will at times kill the big cats to protect their livestock. When this gets out, people will curse the farmers and call them names, serious insults. Their hearts are at work at this time. However, the mind should tell them a few things. First, they are thousands of miles away and could not do anything at that time to save the cats. Secondly, calling people names could stir them against the cats even more. Lastly, had these people mean to kill the cats, non could have been in existence today because they have kept livestock in the range lands for very many years. The light however is that, after an incidence like that, people can brainstorm on what to do to avert similar situations in future. In such a debate, I would expect a lot of heat but/and objectivity to win. Rules bring order and I will stick with the rules. You are right in it, that it´s so easy to blame other people, especially when sitting in some "ivory tower" so, that him- herself has everything ok, seeing some big predator only in documentaries and maybe as a tourist while participating to some organized and safe trip with cameras and really nothing to worry about. Same time there are people, who need to work for their living with livestock and deal with dangers concerning tigers and lions. One interesting part is, that with what justification people from Europe and let´s say North-America are complaining. Central-Europe... there aren´t too many predators left, where are the wolves and bears? And so many other animals... people who won´t tolerate big predators among themselves should have a moment and think if they really should be so loud to judge others, when they have massacred their own fauna to extinction concerning so many species. Noth America and USA especially have pushed for instance brown bears and wolves to way smaller range than before. Luckily for these species there is Alaska and of course big neighbor Canada. When looking at lower 48 it´s ruthless, livestock is there priority 1 also and big predators have been killed. Then we have sad story of bison... etc. These are interesting things, without Russia most probably Finland wouldn´t have nowadays bears and wolves, in past we hunted these species to almost extinction here. Nowadays things are better, but a lot of work to do still. Reindeer owners, if up to them, would shoot any bear, wolf and wolverine on sight, especially wolves and wolverines. A lot of hate and heated discussions happen here too (Finland), when these animals are discussed. It´s challenging to find ways to live side by side with big predators, but hopefully good solutions can be found, while some individuals have to be killed sometimes in order to protect livestock and people. Finding certain kind of balance is difficult, but worth to try. Same thing as what comes to discussions here. I hope, that you like it here and can share your thoughts.
Lately in some occasions there have been a little bit things like "if this would be about a lion, then you would...." or "if this would be about a tiger, then you would....". It´s no secret, that people have preferences, that´s ok, there is nothing wrong in it. As long as it doesn´t lead to dismissing other animals in demeaning way or mocking others.
When in some thread there is criticism and/or debates, if your first idea is to start mocking or writing in a way I described above, take a deep breath, count to ten and think before writing. Don´t get offended like there would be some personal insult, when something you say is questioned. People simply can see things differently without nothing dramatic there. Moderators will act if someone starts to disrespect some animal in wildfact. No matter if it´s a tiger, a lion or a horse. Or whatever. If not right away (not noticed it yet for some reason), you can report a posting which you think to be offending/insulting in a wrong kind of way. That´s much better than diving into some argument so that heartbeat rate is 200 times/minute. Things have been ok for quite some time and looking good. So let´s keep it this way. When new members join in, remember that this isn´t a tiger forum, not a lion forum or a bear forum. All animals are respected and that is expected. And also taken care that it stay in that way. So you don´t need to be worried for your favorite animal here. Stay calm and focus to good information. 
Agreed in all respects.
This is a forum about those who make their home in the natural world, not us. Preference is a great drive, provided you use it to find good information. And remember reality always beats fiction. 
Everyone, we have seen a recent increase in people making the same post in multiple threads, especially when posting videos. The purposes for doing this can be varied, examples would be padding post counts, or attempting to increase views of your personal channel/page on another site.
As a result, the Wildfact Team have discussed this issue, and we are going to officially request that all users refrain from doing this. Please identify the thread you believe to be most pertinent to your particular post, and make the post in a single location only. Anyone who is observed doing this will be banned. The only exception to this will be when marketing the Wildfact site, once it has been discussed with a member of the team. Thank you for your continued cooperation, and do continue to enjoy the site!!
02-25-2023, 12:04 AM
( This post was last modified: 02-25-2023, 09:19 AM by sanjay
Edit Reason: Added peter's message as well
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Due to multiple instances of users bringing troubles from other sites to Wildfact, we are implementing a new rule.
From this point forward, every member of Wildfact importing problems created at other forums will be permanently banned right away. TO ALL MEMBERS WHO JOINED ANOTHER FORUM from peter: I'm not sure, but my guess is quite a few members of Wildfact joined another forum. Over there, some of them end up in 'debates'. Not seldom, these debates get out of hand. The most common result is animosity. Every now and then, it is moved to Wildfact. As it takes quite a bit of time to solve the problems deposited at the plate of the administrators and mods of Wildfact, a decision had to be taken. Meaning it stops right here. From now on, every member of Wildfact importing problems created at other forums will be permanently banned right away.
Everyone, moving forward, we are requesting everyone to make their posts in English. If you do not know English, some of us can help you in using an online translator, if needed. This will aid in getting more, and quicker, responses to your posts. Posts made in any language, other than English will be deleted, and repeated violations can lead to banning.
Please contact a member of the Mod team if you have any questions, or need any help. Thank you for your continued cooperation, so that everyone can continue to enjoy the site!! 
Everyone
As a result of some things that have come up recently, and after discussions amongst the Wildfact Team, we felt it necessary to bring this up. If a user is banned, or chooses to leave the forum for their own personal reasons, we are unable to delete or remove posts made by their account. While there can be several reasons for this, the primary reason would be the continuity of the site and historical accuracy. If a user is involved in a conversation, and then their comments are removed from that conversation, it will be very difficult, and in some cases impossible, for a new user, or someone simply going back through a thread, to follow along with that particular conversation. Therefore it is Wildfact policy that no such comments are able to be removed. Thank you everyone for the continued cooperation, and do continue enjoy the site! Regards Timbavati 
All
As a result of some recent confusion, we believe we should clarify the rules regarding new thread creation in the Lion section. In a majority of instances, it is likely a thread already exists for the topic a member may wish to discuss. So, we would ask that prior to creating a new thread all users verify that a thread pertaining to your desired topic does not already exists. In the rare instances that such a thread does not already exists, please check with any member of the Mod Team before creating a new thread. Any new threads created without this prior approval will be deleted, and repeated infractions to this rule can result in a member being placed on the Watch List, or even banned. Thank you for your understanding and cooperation in this matter, we in the Mod Team hope for your continued enjoyment of WildFact @BA0701 (08-29-2023, 08:53 AM)Timbavati Wrote: All Great job @"Timbavati"!
YUSUF
You recently contacted me in a PM. I responded and you sent another PM. When reading it, two of our mods told me you had broken (at least) one of our rules (referring to the multiple account rule). The result was an automatic ban and the end of our conversation. Here's a bit more about your response to my PM. In that PM, questions were asked. I didn't tell you it wasn't about (the answers to) these questions, but about something else. The result was interesting. I'm referring to your remarks about an internal affair (1) and a few exceptional lions in southern Africa (2). About internal affairs Internal affairs are internal, meaning they're none of your business. When you, in spite of that, can't control the urge to post about an internal issue, the advice is to read everything that could be relevant first. Before deciding for an opinion, that is. More often than not, it'll answer all questions. As to Guate and PC. Both were here from the start. Guate was a mod and PC was offered moderation. Meaning they were much respected members. Most unfortunately, they changed over the years. In their last year in particular, they, more than once, got involved in non-debates, including incorrect assumptions, insults and, at times, even misinformation. Not seldom, the result was animosity. When trying to solve the problem, I was dismissed and insulted and that was the end of it. Over here, rules count. No exceptions. In the end, it's about good info and respect. Respect for good info, other members and mods. If good advice is ignored and a warning has no effect, the result will be a ban or an invitation to move. Both Guate and PC got an invitation. About posting, measurements and references Over here, members posting about the size of big cats are expected to deliver reliable sources. You know, but never delivered. Not in Wildfact and not in the other forums you joined. Same for your PM (see above). Do we want to attract those involved in speculation or those interested in good information and willing to play by the book? About the difference between wild big cats and their relatives living in private reserves Wildfact is about wild animals, not their captive relatives. With 'wild', we mean animals living in natural conditions. Let's take lions. The question is if there's, sizewise, a difference between wild lions and lions living in private reserves (referring to southern Africa in particular)? The answer is affirmative. Is the difference significant? Affirmative again. In my PM, I informed you about my source (referring to a recent thesis). You didn't ask for a link, but decided for an opinion right away and continued about the giants like before. Meaning trouble is to be expected. About the size of captive and wild big cats You most probably know I measured (quite many) captive big cats. Apart from that, I talked to those who hunted them a long time ago. I also interviewed trainers, vets, directors of facilities, big cat biologists and conservators of natural history museums. They had access to good information. Furthermore, most had measured big cats themselves. In the proper way ('between pegs'). Meaning they knew a few things about the size of these animals. They, to keep it short, roughly confirmed the information collected by reliable observers and hunters a century ago. A healthy adult wild male tiger or lion of 400 pounds empty and 9 feet in total length measured in a straight line with a steel tape is an impressive animal. Large individuals can exceed 10 feet and 550 pounds empty, but they're few and far between. Any difference between lions and tigers? Not at the level of species (referring to the situation after tigers were extermined in Bali, the Caspian region and central and southeastern China), but subspecies seem to be more pronounced in tigers. Meaning it's more likely to find an exceptional individual in, say, Nepal, northern India, northeastern China and southeastern Russia than in, say, southern Africa. About the effect of private facilities (lions) The main thing to remember is lions living in private facilities face better, more stable, conditions. Compared to an average healthy adult Kruger male (about 420 pounds or 190 kg), an average male lion living in a private reserve is larger in nearly all respects. About the effect of protection and good research (Amur tigers) In the period 1992-2004 (referring to tigers captured in the Sichote-Alin Biosphere Reserve only), males (referring to young adults, adults and old tigers) ranged between 140-212 kg. The average of a very limited number of males (including young adults) was about 9 feet 8 inches (total length measured 'over curves' with a flexible tape) and 176,4 kg (389 pounds). Two decades later, Feng Limin (a Chinese biologist who knows quite a bit about wild Amur tigers), in an interview, said a male of 270 kg (596 pounds) had been captured in northeastern China not so long ago. Another male was about 250 kg (552 pounds), whereas a male about 3 years of age arrested for domestic violence a few years ago was 225 kg (496 pounds). That's still without the Anyuisky (Khabarovsky Krai) male tigers leaving prints with a 'heel width' of 14-16 cm. The 'heel width' of an average adult male, for comparison, ranges between 10-12 cm. All in all, one could conclude there seem to be more large individuals than about 2 decades ago. A result of an unknown factor? A limited sample (referring to the table published in 2005)? Could be, but the most probable reason is Amur tigers today have more room and more protection. That's still apart from a lot of research conducted in the last decades. About membership Our aim is to present good information about (the status and plight of) wild animals. Mods make sure the rules of engagement will be respected by all at all times. Over a hundred million views in a decade only strongly suggest this policy is appreciated by many. In spite of your reputation, Sanjay thinks you deserve another chance. The mods, for good reasons, have a somewhat different opinion. After a sitdown, an agreement was reached. You can join, but the condition is a watchlist. This means every contribution will be read. If the mod team agrees, you contribution will be posted. If they don't, you'll be contacted. All this still is without the rules of engagement (and the multiple account rule in particular). Our advice is to use your own name only. |
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