Many will fondly remember the documentary series The man and the earthby Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. For their filming, they were often used die-cut animals. But what does this term mean? A stamped or imprinted animal is one that learns an irreversible behavior with which it fixes the species to which it belongs (which does not mean that it is the one that corresponds to it by nature). In other words, a die cut wolf he believes that he belongs to another species, for example, human, because he has been raised with people since childhood. Or if a baby is raised with monkeys, he thinks he is a monkey.
Animal defenders
Some advocates of animals they consider that it is an act that goes against their rights. But, on the other hand, it makes it easier to disclose the behaviors of wild animals. Not even our friend Felix would have been able to shoot some scenes with wild wolves. Or with real raptors. His life would have been (even more) in danger.
Die-cut animals have long been used for various shows. Especially to shoot fiction films, but also documentaries. The time it takes an animal to create that link of belonging to a species depends on the species, worth the redundancy.
Some birds have a very short period, between ten and twenty hours after hatching. On the other hand, in the case of mammals, this period lengthens. Wolves need between fifteen and forty-five days of age.
There are two basic imprints in any species: the filial and the sexual. If you want the die-cut animal to be able to breed with individuals of its own species in the future, you must work with the double imprint.
To shoot scenes with dangerous species it is necessary to die-cut animals. And yet there have been unfortunate accidents (unfortunate for the human being, it is understood). Some dangerous species of nocturnal habits, elusive habits or that live in closed habitats, such as wolves, bears, big cats, can give surprises in the filming. Sometimes, for the sake of the actors and crew, a tranquilizer is administered to the animal.
It was one of the few criticisms the naturalist Y popularizer of the environment Félix Rodríguez de la Fuente. But this practice was compensated by the respect for the environment that several generations learned.
If you want to read more articles similar to Die-cut or imprinted animals, we recommend that you enter our Wild Animals category.
