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« Lemur Kingdom
Gizmo's Death
I am irate that the camera man let this little lemur die. What is so sickening is they played on his death, made an episode and a half of it. Personifying, these lemurs with all of these human like qualities, friendship, and love, and comradery. But I think it is sick how the camera man stood there and video taped this Lemur(Gizmo) while he died.
If anyone ever reads this and actually watches these episodes of lemur kingdom and the sickening play on this lemur's death for the sake of story line and plot building. I would expect someone to respond to my argument that, we(people) shouldn't interfere with nature, etc. etc. etc. as if we don't kill baby seals, and eat dolphins, and cultivate animals for there skins and meat.
I SAY THE CAMERA MAN COULD OF WENT AND GIVEN THIS LITTLE LEMUR A BANANA OR SOMETHING.
He didn't have to sit there and just watch this creature die, I'm appalled and so should you. Please watch these 2 episodes and tell me if you do not feel the same.
Unless someone can post the argument that these animals were filmed by robots remotely controlled via satellite feed or something. I am ashamed of anyone that took part in the filmography of this creatures death.
You should be ashamed of yourselves, I loathe you.
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Feb 15, 2008 11:22 PM
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I totally agree with the original poster! I just started watching this show, and didn't see that episode yet, but watching him hobble around in the previous episodes is breaking my heart already. If they watch an animal starve, that's inhumane. They should offer up a piece of fruit and let the little guy have a chance to recover at least. Now I'm totally bummed, maybe I won't watch this show again.
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Feb 16, 2008 3:30 AM
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Do you have any idea what this show is about? The are researching these animals 'IN THE WILD'. I love animals too, but there can't be human intervention. Everyone is so used to scripted 'reality' tv. This show is not.
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Feb 16, 2008 10:51 AM
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I totally agree with the original post. they could have taken gizmo to a vet to fix his leg. It was cruel. The argument not to interfere doesnt stand with me - because for the researchers just being there is interfering. It was cruel to film and to have us watch!
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Feb 16, 2008 1:28 PM
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Then all of you should just go watch My Little Pony or something. The show is trying to show you the real life and death events of lemurs. That is why I said they should not interfere.
And even if they were going to interject and give Gizmo a banana, I doubt they would have been able to since the cameras are automated and running 24/7. I don't think there are just people sitting with cameras all over Madagascar.
I don't like to see animals die either, but they are trying to depict the actual events in the animals lives. If you can't deal with it, just don't watch it.
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Feb 17, 2008 1:43 PM
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I completely agree with the first poster. I have been studying ring-tailed lemurs for the last 7 months and have aspirations to become a wildlife veterinarian. I was horrified and sickened by the way Gizmo's poor little life ended in needless suffering. I think the idea and excuse that interfering with wild animals to aid them interrupts nature is a load of crap, and is utilized for convenience and as an excuse for being lazy. By that same logic then we need to stop building subdivisions, shopping centers, and office complexes and we need to no longer drive cars since all of the above interfere with nature, far more so than rehabilitating an injured lemur juvenile. Also, this show (which I was so excited about at first) filmed lemurs eating from trash cans and entering into human cabins which aren't part of "nature." Aren't humans interfering with them in those instances? The show didn’t hesitate to let that occur. Shouldn't we stop treating people for cancer or other diseases, or leave babies born with defects behind since treating these things goes against nature. As a species we have done far too many detrimental things to the lives of animals, and no where is that more apparent than in the deforested woods of Madagascar. I think we have an obligation to animal species across the globe to help any animal that it is within our power to help. Couldn't it be said that it is in our "nature" to want to help other species who share our planet? My husband is a professional cinematographer and he was equally horrified that another member of his profession could sit back and watch this helpless creature perish. It is my great hope that one day nature programs will arise that both educate humans and aid in the struggles of animals whose lives have most certainly been negatively affected by human nature.
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Feb 19, 2008 4:11 PM
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It is really easy to understand why the people that were around gizmo and the other animals did not do anything to provide any medical asistance.
First, this show is a documentaty.
Second, I too am moved by the death of gizmo (in this case it was nature that ended his life) and many other animals that suffer. It is really unfurtunate that he had to die but remember that nature is more powerful than any other force!
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Feb 23, 2008 12:57 AM
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Hi, everyone, you cannot believe how happy I am to see other's share my point of view. I really expected to see 10 people flame me with a non-interventionalist's(excuse spelling) approach for every person that saw my side of it.
Okay, I will completely retract my whole statement if these camera's truly are remote controlled, and there really isn't someone standing around filming.
But my only rebuttal is if you think just because this is some kind of documentary and they shouldn't interfere with them, then we shouldn't treat your mother for her cancer because that would be interfering with nature.
Nonetheless, Animal Planet should be showing more productive shows. Like who's making a difference in the world, who's saving animals, who's making efforts to not destroy nature, WHO ISN'T FILMING LEMUR'S DIEING. I understand you can't save everything, my only argument is the needless deaths, those that could be prevented should be.
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Feb 25, 2008 2:13 AM
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I don't know if this show has the same policies as Meerkat Manor, but I suspect they do. As far as the meerkats are concerned, US Executive Producer Mick Kaczorowski pointed out that Meerkat Manor is a show about the real lives and deaths of the meerkats. The research group has a policy against film crews interceding in natural events "because they don't want to have an effect on the gene pool by saving a weaker meerkat [or] affecting the outcome of what's natural in the Kalahari." As the research project is monitoring "...the breeding success and survival of individuals and ... the factors that effect reproduction and survival" interfering in the natural processes would render the research results invalid.
Do you guys get it now? This has nothing to do with letting your mother die of cancer! I still say you should just stick with My Little Pony and the Smurfs if you can't handle real life. And this is coming from a vegetarian by the way.
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Feb 27, 2008 1:37 PM
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Not only do I "get it," meerkitty, but I also get that you completely missed the point of our argument. I am myself a nonhuman primate researcher, researching ringtailed lemurs, and I would have never let Gizmo die during my research if I could have done something about it. Disease and death are natural parts of nature in Lemur catta as well as in our own species. The human population is littered with weaker individuals who would have died of disease, disability, or accidents, if not for interventions against "nature." Does that stop us from helping other humans, even if it "weakens" our own species? Let's say you were doing a research documentary on homeless people and one individual stabbed another individual in the chest and then ran off? Would you call the police? Wouldn't that be interfering with your research if you did?! Would you help the dying man or would you sit back and film him bleeding to death? At the end of the day both Meerkat Manor and Lemur Kingdom are entertainment based shows that edit shots to increase the drama and the ratings. Scientific information could be obtained from those lemur troops and from Gizmo even if he had been saved and rereleased into the wild or relocated to a zoo. Honestly, what valuable research was gained by letting him die? Think how much more could have been learned from him had he been helped to live. Lemurs are natural to one place in the entire world: Madagascar. Every day human beings cause detrimental effects on every species on that island by clearing forests for farmland and industry. Humans have no problem interfering then. Saving the lives of animal species that we have destroyed and pushed close to extinction is paramount, even during times of research. I would buy your excuse not to interfere if we didn’t have a daily damaging effect on so many species worldwide. So by default we have an obligation to help them. For every good thing we would do to help wildlife, a thousand bad things are being done to hurt them. Having the camera crews and the remote cameras around certainly has an effect on the animals. Did you ever stop to think that maybe the new equipment and the human presence in the troop’s territory made them more violent and caused the female juvenile to push Gizmo from the tree? If more people take your stance that threatened species injured in an accident should be left to die, then at some point there might not be anymore species to research at all. I, too, am a vegetarian, and I think the “don’t interfere with nature” line is an excuse for being lazy. It takes a lot of work to rehabilitate an injured wild animal, and most people don’t give animals the same respect and compassion as they do to other people. This is why people have justified treating human cancer victims but not wild animals who are victims to injury. By the way, "Real Life" equals a roadside bomb in Iraq that kills 4 soldiers, a guy who walks into his classroom and shoots 20 of his fellow students dead, a hiker walking her dog kidnapped and beheaded. Those are all parts of real life, does that mean we shouldn't do anything about it or want it to change?!
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Mar 5, 2008 12:10 AM
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I understand that wildlife shows like Lemur Kingdom and Meerkat Manor show nature realistically. That being said, I am also furious with the manipulation displayed by Animal Planet. The first two episodes of LK deliberately drew us to little Gizmo. We were shown repeatedly the little guy's guts and determination - he was the quintessential underdog who tugged at our heartstrings. Why? To set us up so that we would feel even more heartsick at his death? The audience is not stupid; they know what happens in the wild. But unlike earlier wildlife shows like Wild Kingdom, in which the animals observed were "anonymous," AP seems intent on creating an emotional bond between specfic, "personalized" animals and the viewers, and then destroying that bond in a heartwrenching way. As soon as I realized that AP was setting me up emotionally regarding Gizmo, I stopped watching. 
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Mar 9, 2008 11:52 PM
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Yes, I haven't watched since. A Documentary nothing, name 1 factual thing they've even said on that show, granted I only saw those 2 episodes involving gizmo. They are making a soap opera, have those of you arguing it's a documentary lost sight of that, and besides, you can clearly see the lemur's living next to a farm so it's not like it's unscripted wild nature. They're all playing on dirt road probably called 5th avenue for petes sakes.
I have whole heartedly enjoyed reading everyone's kind words on here, I'm very glad that I was the first to spark this conversation, because normally I wouldn't. I'm the kinda guy that would club a seal 6 outa 7 days of the week, just so long as I had purpose or a reason. Gizmo's death served no purpose, I see no reason why (if as you say these are robot camera's) that guy sitting behind that monitor watching what his robot was recording didn't go and help him(gizmo). We all saw him dieing, slowly nonetheless. I'm just trying to say i'm not a carebear or anything but it was cruel. I'm sure they're much more important things in this world we should be more concerned with than 1 dieing lemur in a far off place, but when you lose sight of things like that, who are we as a people? Answer me that. What makes this thread so difficult for me is I could easily argue either side of it, but it just so happens I'm on gizmo's side.
I myself am not a fan of lemur's, in particular. I am actually a Felis Concolor man myself. And I've seen real documentaries on them. James Hornocker(however you spell it) was filming them inside a couple acres of enclosed habitat, while although he was attacked once, when things were down, a deer who had been hit by a car was fed dropped off inside the habitat so that it could serve a purpose. What purpose did gizmo serve other than absolutely infuriating me past all get out with not only this show but all of their shows. Animal cops is the worst, I honestly don't give a crap about what these *cops* have to say in the car while they are putting up with peoples drama. Just go do your job, and do it well, and shut up in the mean time because we don't care. If you can help and save animals great, but quit acting like your on camera and your the star of a tv show. Going back to the mountain lions, a cub did die, he got outside the enclosure and was found mauled, I put my life on it, if someone was there to help they would have, and after awhile when the cubs grew up, they were all released. The mother cougar, unfortunately was sent to a zoo I think because she was born by way of a breeder, or taken at a young age I don't remember.
Needless to say, you can make documentaries, be standoffish, but yet still serve a purpose and help. I'm not going to watch anymore lemurs die. AP if this is the type of reaction you were looking for I'm glad for you because you got it, unfortunately it's not going to keep me "tuned in".
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Mar 20, 2008 11:44 AM
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Hello to everyone!
I want to shear my opinion about this topic… I do agree in the part that it’s sad to see this poor animal to die in international TV. But one fact is that if there were no camera man filming this event, the lemur will still keep this sad end. I do understand this is a documentary, its nature on there on, Man should no interfere and that’s the definition of intelligence in nature: “the capacity to survive in the environment or ecosystem”.
I haven’t see the episode but I know the program and I do watch Animal Planet, but maybe they shouldn’t film this event too long, or keep presenting it…
Maybe in the USA it’s normal and common to see people helping and rescuing animals everyday, but were I live (Puerto Rico) is not so common and seeing that the humane society in the USA have “animal cops” and people that will keep fighting to the end for animal welfare its inspiring to people like me… I love animals more than human… but I know sometimes nature its nature no matter what, but other times the human hurts nature and the animals with the meat industry, fur and leather, dog fights and cockfight. I am a vegetarian trying to fight and spread the word about animal rights in a country were cockfighting is consider a cultural event… so went I see programs in Animal Planet about “animal cops” or documentary about wild life and other programs educating people about animals is inspiring and a happy thing (in one way) coz’ some school in Puerto Rico are showing this channel to students to create a conscious about animals and nature.
I don’t like to see animals suffer and as I mention already I do agree that is sad to see an amazing animal die in TV and they (Animal Planet) shouldn’t film this event and maybe focus the documentary in other amazing facts of these animals. But instead to keep argument on this event we (animal lovers) should focus in how we can help animals around the world… like countries in the middle east that capture wild animals (like bears, tigers in danger & others) and putting them fighting to dead and/or “sports” like the Kok-boru Presidential Cup in the capital Bishkek in Kyrgyzstan (see Yahoo news most viewed photos) were this sport is horseman’s chased by opponents as they drags a headless goat across the pitch. This is cruel and men have everything to do with this horrific cruelness and inhuman event.
There are worst thing happening to animals around the world cause by men than film nature taking her pat.
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Apr 2, 2008 11:31 AM
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Oh, please. I'm so SICK of you whiney losers complaining that the cameramen should've intervened. I mean, WAKE UP PEOPLE! THIS ISN'T ANIMAL CRUELTY, IT'S NATURE, and if you can't take it, you're just a wimp. This show is meant to be educational. Do you know what "educational" means? Death is a fact of life, and there's no way to avoid it. JUST DEAL WITH IT.
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Apr 4, 2008 10:27 PM
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Ohh Waa Waa, your right, this isn't animal cruelty. None of us directly hurt and or killed Gizmo, sue me for caring. So it's just nature doing what nature does best, create and destroy.
You want to go up to a childrens mercy hospital and tell all t he little kids with cancer to stop being wimps, it's just nature.
When we lose sight of caring for our planet, our home, and all that inhabit it, what good are we? Is it so horrible to care about everything from hummingbirds to homo sapiens. How is that weak?
Look I'm not saying we all have to go out of our way to save the rain forest or polka dotted speckled wood warblers or whatever, but it doesn't hurt to care. And be proactive with our thoughts and actions.
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Apr 24, 2008 12:16 PM
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