This photograph really captures why I feel bad about zoos. I had the camera on autofocus, of course, and it chose to see the cage and not the animal. And that is why zoos make me uncomfortable. I too see the cage, and I see the animal in the cage: and it makes me feel bad. And yet I go, and I give money to the zoo, and I support the system.
Yours, conflicted.
N.
4 comments:
I know exactly what you mean. When I went to the "zoo" recently, I felt so awful seeing birds (like Scarlet Macaws) behind wire with little space to fly, more so when I saw them in the wilderness of Peru flying free.
It's a huge conflict for me, and something I feel strongly about. (It took 14 years to get me into one and, having now visited a zoo, I still haven't changed my mind). But sometimes there are more than ourselves to think about, like you with your children, or me with friends and ET. And by boycotting one, will it make a change? Perhaps you were right before: suggesting we use our powers instead to encourage better care.
I'm with you N. And, just exactly do children get out of going to the zoo anyways? Last summer, we went to the Toronto Zoo, which by Zoo standards is a good one because the animals have a lot of space. We saw the whole shebang......got close to giraffes, watched the polar bears swimming in their own pool.....the birds, the hippos, the bears, the goofy monkeys.....all wild and wacky. But do you know what is the first "remember when" memory brought up whenever this trip is discussed????
How amazing and gross it was to see the elephant pee.
whhhoooooopeeeeeeee.
Glad we paid mucho $$ for that thrill.
Awareness: I think that that experience/memory for your children is in fact an incredibly cool and useful observation! How many people think of wild animals in sterile or disneyfied ways?
N.
There is such conflict in me also about zoos and animal parks...I hate to see animals penned up in cages...yet, I love to see animals that I would never be able to see in person.
So, maybe the thing to do is make sure that they are protected and treated well while in the care of humans...
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