Sunday, October 11, 2009

I Was Invited to a Cockfight



After 15 years in Polynesia, I was invited to a secret professional cock fight. I attended only to photograph it so that others would be able to see what takes place here, and, though illegal, is tolerated by the police. (So is the killing of sea turtles).

On arrival I found myself in a large dim building where birds were standing, neatly spaced, their feathers clipped, as if they were all in uniform. Beyond the group of people where the man is walking, is the cockpit itself.

A Young Bird


I began walking around, and soon met the person who had invited me to come. I took a photo of his bird, which, to my surprise was scarcely mature. Its feathers had been removed, and, like all the others, it had been put in the sun to burn and harden its tender white skin.

My aquaintance told me he had been fighting cocks for 35 years, that he had a hundred of them at his house, including hens and chicks, all in cages, and that he was always at the cockpit. Fighting cocks to death was how he made his living.

A Handicapped Fighter


This worried looking little bird, his tail drooping, has only one spur, yet will be put in a fight, handicapped.

Looking Around

Behind the Cockpit

Birds Were Everywhere


As I walked around I found birds everywhere. In the cages lining the walls were countless more birds. They were never freed, they were fed unnatural food, only--it came in a sack--and I was told that they were given medication instead of activity to make their muscles grow.

Nervousness


Each bird stands in its place because it is tied to the floor by a short string knotted around its leg above its spur. These birds are used to being attached, but all showed signs of nervousness in this unnatural and noisy situation.

Proud Cock-owners


I walked around looking at all the birds, admiring the most striking, complimenting their owners, and taking photos of some of them. In this way everyone saw me smiling and admiring everyone and his bird--I hoped that as a result, they would feel more comfortable about me photographing a fight too.

I was very aware of being the only white person, almost the only woman, and the only one there taking pictures. It was a secret and illegal fight, and I was afraid that someone would challenge me.

A Fight Begins


The fight begins in a confrontational pose. Note how little leaping the birds do, and how they scarcely raise their wings.

This is just the very beginning of a fight that lasted about twenty minutes, and soon after this there was almost no leaping; the birds were surprisingly lacking in physical stamina compared with my own; the fight was actually boring compared with those I had seen in my garden and in the wild. (Of course I gently separate my own birds when they fight, sending each back into his own territory.

Here, and this is the point: the birds have nowhere to hide and no way to escape. As the men yell and jeer, they have no choice but to fight to the death.

In the Cockpit


Seated at the front with my professional host, I had an excellent view. He soon told me that in this case, a small bird had been matched with a larger one, which was often done by the Chinese. I didn't understand why, only that Polynesians were careful to match the birds in size and weight precisely.

Each bird was measured, and its height and weight recorded, prior to the fights, and it was given a number, which was stuck on its tail. I had assumed that this was so that the fights would be 'fair.'

My acquaintance was Polynesian, from one of the wild islands, and he continually made the distinction between what the two races of cockfighting specialists did.

Close-up of the Birds


The blood on the birds' feet is not from body wounds, but from the injuries they are inflicting on each other. These birds kick so lightning fast and hard with their sharp spurs that they inflict a very nasty injury. It feels like someone has hammered a nail into you, as I have experienced several times when trying to catch a bird while he was fighting.

The injury is deep and painful and causes a large bruise around it. Therefore, it is hard to imagine the damage and pain suffered by these birds being repeatedly kicked in the head and body. The head, eyes, neck, breast and joints are targeted.

The Injuries Begin



Close-up of the birds. One of their eyes is already blinded.

The Leaps Become Fewer

They Weaken

On it Goes


At this point, both birds still have one eye, though they suffer many holes in their bodies and heads.

Its All for Money



The amount of money visible in the man's hand is equivalent to about 250 American dollars. Money was visible in many of the hands around the cockpit. My contact told me that the Polynesians bet smaller amounts, just to amuse themselves, but the Chinese were very serious players and bet large amounts of money on one fight. The figure he mentioned was equivalent to about 1500 dollars US.

The Little One Is Blinded



By now the smaller bird is blinded but still biting his opponent.

Near the End

Near the end of the fight, the smaller bird had both eyes punctured and was blind. The video shows this in that I managed to catch a moment in which he kept turning around and around. Then the other bird would hit him again, and he would respond by hitting back and biting his opponent by feel.

Sometimes when he was out of contact with the other bird, he ran along the bloody wall, feeling his way to find an escape, but there was no escape. Soon the other bird caught up with him and kicked his head again. For awhile the two were right under where I was sitting, and he was so covered with blood that no features were visible on his head at all; his eyes were both destroyed and had disappeared.

The other bird was also badly injured and covered with blood, and was fighting with one punctured eye. They spent much time leaning against each other. This part went on and on.

In nature the losing bird quickly escapes into cover. There is always cover to hide in in the jungle where they evolved.

I dared not take photos of the bloody ending because I was afraid of being confronted about it.

In the end, the blinded, bloody bird ran away, around and around the wall, until his owner came and took him. I asked my acquaintance what would happen to the little thing, and he said that the bird would just be thrown away--cast blind into the wild to starve to death.

Back Home


Back at home, I snapped a few photos of a brief squabble between two friendly cocks over a hen they both liked, for an illustration of the difference. The series is blogged below. Though the photos were taken in daylight, they are more blurred than those taken at the cockfight, where the light was very poor.

This indicates that these naturally living birds are in much finer shape than the so-called super-cocks, bred and raised for fighting, yet who never get any excercise, nor natural food.

Notice that the birds are always leaping and whirling, whereas the ones at the cockfight spent much of their time exhausted and leaning against each other after only a few low leaps.

The series also illustrates the natural beauty of the birds, who actually are descended from fighting cocks, crossed with junglefowl. In removing the birds' decorative feathers, the men expose the birds to injury, and take away their beauty.

Confrontation

It Begins



Natural fights are squabbles which are rarely serious. (For more information see the post below on Junglefowl.

Friday, July 13, 2007

Junglefowl: Another Look


Junglefowl are the ancestors of domestic chickens. They evolved to walk through the jungles of southern Asia, an environment as infested with predators as any on earth. A variety of cats, snakes, primates, raptors, and more, are always on the alert for a hot little snack, not to mention the creatures lurking in their drinking pools, waiting to snatch them. In this situation, the birds evolved into a unique and remarkable species.

Walking, instead of flying, and foraging in the leaf litter for insects, young plants, fruits, lizards, mice, spiders, and other edibles, their bodies became heavy, their legs strong. This, of course, is the reason humanity considers them excellent food. Since they were so voraciously hunted by predators, in addition, they had to evolve an accelerated reproductive cycle, which profits humanity too; imagine how many eggs are eaten around the world each day.

The result is a species in which the individuals stick together in hierarchical flocks in a united effort to protect eggs and chicks. For the alpha males. that means fighting for the protection of a good territory, repelling and warning of predators, guiding the flock, and helping the hens to find food and safe nests. For all these things a quite variable vocabulary is used. (For example, the birds fly into the trees when the alarm call for dogs is given, and run for cover when the approach of a hawk is announced. The examples of communication in my stories illustrate their communicative capacities to some extent). The beta males support the alpha, play, try to breed the hens, and help find food for the chicks. When a rooster finds a special morsel, he always calls to the hens to come and partake of what he has found; the better the titbit, the more excitedly he calls.

From their first excursion close to their mother, the chicks are fed by her. At first they eat only what she indicates. Since she has sat upon the eggs for three weeks, she is in need of food herself, but since mother and babies eat foods of different sizes, she is able to feed herself while looking for food for them. Within days, the chicks, squealing in excitement, are chasing each other around with insects too large for just one, until their combined efforts tear it into pieces small enough for them all to eat. What they learn in the first days of their lives seems to affect them forever after.

In my experience newly hatched chicks imprint not only on their care-giver, but also upon foods they are given, their environment, (whether jungle, open forest, garden, or another), and the learning from all their experiences. Hens appear to adore not only each chick, for which they will fight to the death, but eggs as well. If a hen unexpectedly finds another's egg, she will often caress it with beak and breast for a few minutes before going on her way.

If the alpha male is threatened, the beta-males come to his aid, and vice versa. Hens become very attached to their mates, and sometimes mate for life; if a hen is killed, the alpha male, or the rooster who was closest to her if it is a big flock, will look after her chicks. Thus they have close and loving social lives ranking with those of social mammals.

In the wild flock I have been watching, the hens produce chicks about the same time, about every three months. Though here we lack the great terrestrial predators, there are so many rats and cats who take the chicks out from under their mothers at night, that usually all the babies are quickly lost. People's dogs roam the jungle in packs killing any hen without adequate cover with a single bite through the thorax, just for the fun of it. Some hens appear to succeed in finding particularly safe nests, and manage to raise three or four little ones at the most, but what is more common is a family of from seven to thirteen chicks disappearing within a few days. The mothers try each night to force the babies to come up into the trees with them because of the dangers on the ground, but as long as the little ones are unable to fly and climb up, she flies back down while it is still light enough to lead them to the nest. After about six to eight weeks, they are left increasingly on their own as she becomes reproductively active and recommences egg laying.

These birds are shiny, partly iridescent, and soft, clean to the touch and sweet smelling. References in literature to the filthy feathers of hens are expressions of bias, or the results of the shockingly poor way domestic hens are often housed by humanity. I have noticed repeatedly that the only time a dying bird will make the effort to try to move is after excreting, to stay clean. I keep birds who cannot walk on beds of netting, which allow their excretions to fall through, leaving the bed, and their feathers, clean.

The spectacular males of the species are renowned fighters, an ability that possibly evolved through defence of hens and chicks from predators. Before humanity developed its sneering attitude towards chickens, roosters were considered symbols of courage and power, the only bird who could kill the tiger. This legend is not as far-fetched as it seems, since the birds aim with stunning speed, power, and long, needle-sharp spikes at the eyes of their opponent.

The alpha male acquires an entourage of hens and juveniles, and is always on the alert for danger. His sons help him and the hens, as well as trying to mate the hens whenever his attention is distracted. The hens run to him for protection, so his ability to maintain his leadership is constantly tested. Hens with chicks are respected and young males tend to stay around them helping to feed the babies. Later, the juveniles may become the beginnings of his own flock.

Fights between roosters are generally squabbles between brothers or cousins which don't last long (right). The weaker or just more timid bird quickly runs away. Young males choose a favoured area, where they spend some of their time crowing, and which eventually becomes their territory if they can keep it. The alpha male roams the entire area, which can be as much as a square kilometre as far as I have been able to tell here, depending on the terrain. Due to the individual's experience and capacities, and depending on the current power struggle, friendships, the territory is in constant flux. Some birds move long distances daily, and others do not. As the alpha male and his entourage moves slowly, foraging, through the favoured regions of his grown sons, these younger relatives stay with him for awhile, until he moves on. He crows from time to time as he moves, announcing his presence. These older, powerful alpha males seem to avoid fighting, and will visit in each others territories without conflict. This may be because by that age their spurs have become needle-sharp and about three centimeters long. Their fights can result in serious wounding, usually to the head and eyes, but the breast and wing joints are also targeted. Each rooster and his circumstances are different. Some are lacking in ambition and avoid fighting all their lives--some of these roam vaster territories than the aggressive ones, by roaming quietly, and remaining on the periphery of other flocks.

When the alpha male is hurt, grows old, or weakens for other reasons, he is likely to be killed in the battle that ensues for the leadership of the flock, because he will never give up. Having kept track of a few of these terrible battles, I can say I have never seen such long-term single-minded determination, courage and spirit as shown by some members of this species. Sometimes badly injured former alpha males become loners. They will adopt lost chicks, or help hens with small babies, but avoid contact with other roosters, and they do not crow. The roosters' famous aria declares "I am here!" and those who don't want to attract opposition over that remain silent. They usually die of starvation due to being handicapped by their injuries.

Cock fighting is the unacknowledged national sport of Polynesia, and continual attempts are made by boys and men from all over Moorea Island, to steal the long term residents of my bird hospital. They bring their own experienced rooster, with a cord attached to his leg, and when they hear a wild bird crowing in the jungle near the road, or manage to approach my flock unseen when it is out of sight of the house, they throw their own cock into the vicinity. Since this bird is a stranger, the resident rooster challenges it, and a fight ensues. As the birds leap, kick and twirl, the targeted cock becomes hopelessly entangled in the cord, whereon the thieves pounce on it, untangle it, and put it in a sack. Just this type of capture often results in the death of one of the birds. The stolen bird is not well treated, and soon dies in a fight or through injuries, stress, and neglect. When I rescued one of mine, he was being kept in mud underneath a laundry basket so small he couldn't stand up in it. It had rained all night and he was covered with mud, and shaking with cold. He had not been fed or given water. While children play at cock fighting, there are big cock fights held by serious players, in which a lot of money is involved. While some of them are poor, professionals and businessmen play too, so cock fighting is not confined, here, to the poor.

I have sometimes been able to recover the stolen birds through getting to know the cock thieves and their mothers. But not always; the more serious thieves make sure they get clean away. Its painful to know a bird that I saved and love is being tortured to death with the approval of the society. The law against cock fighting (and cruelty to animals) is not enforced. Stolen birds die, and more are sought. The practice leads to a black hole of suffering, and appears to influence the population to have no care for these magnificent and intelligent birds.

There is no reason why a junglefowl or chicken is less worthy than a parrot, dog, dolphin, (dolphins are also middle predators), horse or cat. They are as intelligent as any other bird.

And remember, if you hear anyone sneering at chickens, you can mention that chickens were already dinosaurs when them and their dogs were only mice!

Ila France Porcher © 2006