WHY WAS THIS NOT ENOUGH?

WHY COULDN’T THESE PEOPLE BE SATISFIED MAJESTIC AND GENTLE DINOSAURS THAT YOU CAN HUG AND RIDE?

WHY DID THEY FEEL THE NEED TO ADD THE CARNIVORES?

SERIOUSLY LIKE “ALL THIS PLACE HAS IS A LIVE DINOSAUR PETTING ZOO WHERE’S THE THRILL WHERE’S THE DANGER??? GODDAMMIT DIANE GET OFF THAT TRICERATOPS, WE’RE GOING HOME THIS PLACE IS LAME”

There was this thing during Jurassic Park that kinda bugged me. Whenever there was an herbivore on the screen, everyone was happy and passively interacting with these massive gentle giants. But do you know which vertebrate kills the most humans (aside from humans and snakes)? Freaking Hippos. Hippos with their big flat teeth and sunscreen sweat kill 3000 people a year. Elephants kill more than lions, bears, tigers, and sharks combined, and hippos kill like six times more people than elephants.

An animal’s diet is not a good representation of its dangerousness. Respect the mighty Apatosaurus.

Okay, I get that herbivores have the potential to be dangerous but at least they aren’t blood thirsty reptilian killing machines.

Except predators they AREN’T bloodthirsty killing machines - if, and again we’re doing this weird thing where we evaluate Jurassic World based on realism - if these were real dinosaurs, they would act like real animals. Again, predators, as long as you feed them and keep them relatively calm, and give them their space and comfort and the socialization and stimulation they need, tend to be fine. Many species of carnivorous animals literally will not attack you as long as you don’t get into their personal bubble (depends on the species, can be big or small) and they’re not hungry. Herbivores, however, since they’re constantly on the lookout to defend their territory and lives, will attack you usually just for being within the perception of their senses. 

Furthermore, the insatiable hunter complex of predatory dinosaurs in the films - the raptors hunting the humans without stopping in movie one; the spinoaurus doing the same in movie three; the I. rex doing it in the new one - that doesn’t happen with real animals. Animals have to balance the amount of energy they get from food with the amount of energy they expel to get it - frankly, all organisms have to do that. If you expend more energy to get food than you would from eating it, you have a net loss of energy, and you eventually die. The predators in Jurassic World, presumably well fed and well taken care of and put within spaces that give them the stimulation and space they need - would not attack you until they got hungry. Granted, you shouldn’t let them OUT of their pens - I mean, new situations and new environments freak out anyone, which is what happened with Gulper and the pterosaurs in Jurassic World, and I’d aruge the I. rex and the raptors - but if they’re kept well, they seriously should not attack you. 

There is no such thing as a NORMAL “bloodthirsty” animal. It isn’t feasible within the constructs of physiology and ecology. Those that are (animals that go on killing sprees) are usually hungry and extremely stressed due to changes in their natural environment - like encroaching of humans in their natural habitat. 

The image of the blood thirsty killing machine comes from the human fear of getting eaten, despite being the top of our food chain (for all intents and purposes) - it’s a natural fear to have, but it’s why herbivores are dangerous! They literally see everything as a blood thirsty killing machine because they have to assume they’re going to get attacked and defend themselves. Meanwhile, humans don’t really have to worry about that, but we have a primal fascination with things that can eat us - monsters, dinosaurs, animals, what have you - it’s why we have movies about lions attacking people and dinosaurs attacking people and vampires attacking people and what have you. It’s a deep seated fear that isn’t really based on a biological reality. 

Yes! This! The main problems I had with JW (and to a lesser extent the first films) was the way they portrayed predator and herbivore behaviour. Letting guests interact with and paddle downriver alongside giant herbivores unsupervised seems like a Very Bad Idea. First of all, people are stupid, and secondly, herbivores can be freakin’ dangerous. It takes a lot of handling for even a highly domesticated herbivore like a horse to be happy with human contact and what we ask of them, and even then they can trample you if they get scared, and kick, and bite, and all manner of fun things! I wouldn’t trust the general public with a herd of ponies let alone a herd of 10 tonne dinosaurs. The risk assessments must be astronomical.

As for predators, the I. rex would have been freaked out and stressed, sure, but it would have done a heck of a lot less damage and been pretty happy with having grabbed a few meals before settling down to digest it all. The probable only reason it would have entered the tourist area (hotels, bars, restaurants) would be to sniff out the smell of roasting burger meat and snatch an easy meal, be it burger or unsuspecting tourist, before wandering off back. If the meal isn’t likely to come easy, it probably wouldn’t have spent the energy attacking it and instead would have given up and looked for something else. We can’t say for sure how any dinosaur behaved, but for top predators for example, we can guess by using knowledge of how modern day animals such as lions would.

And come on, killing an entire herd of Apatosauruses for sport is such a ridiculous idea, those creatures would not have been easy to kill and protective herd behaviour would likely have been such that the Indominus would have ended up dead instead (think how large and comparatively slow herbivores like musk oxen and buffalo behave when threatened, they gang up and attack).

But hey, these are made up films and made up situations and I don’t even know why it bothers me so much. I just wish they were less ‘monster movies’ and more animal movies. I still love the Jurassic Park series but I basically just want to see dinosaurs portrayed and animated in a more realistic fashion, rather than one that caters to the mindless popcorn munching masses. *sigh* I think what I really need is David Attenborough dinosaur docs.