I empathize with your reaction. That said, [good] zoos can and do play an important role in long-term species and habitat conservation. And it's generally no longer the case that the animals housed in [good] zoos have been taken from the wild, unless they were injured, abandoned, etc. and are unable to survive there. I would love to take you to the Indianapolis Zoo.
One has to take zoos on their own terms, or not take them.
Saddest here to me was the orangutan and the sheets.
Once at the Sun Diego Zoo I was at the rhinoceros enclosure, which consisted of a couple of fair sized ponds surrounded by paths and vegetation, and watched a mama rhino teaching her baby rhino … basically how to be a rhino. Baby followed mama into, then out of the first pond, then the second, then around and around and over again. I stayed there for probably half an hour just watching them. Unbelievably all by myself.
One time at the Seattle Zoo I was trying to make friends with a dromedary and discovered they spit. He was a good aim. I expect you would have liked him, Henry. I kinda did too.
You might like the Bronx Zoo, in NYC, where the animals live in large habitats and the people are well-distanced observers. I have wept at some zoos; not at this one.
I hope I’m not offending anybody but this whole picture of the zoo and the captured animals and them not knowing or understanding that they are captives -even if it’s for “their own good,” reminds me of what’s happening to our children in public school where human beings are put in a box and labeled, where creativity is curtailed, where original thinking is look down upon, where morals are not morals anymore- but politics. They call it an educational system and a school, but I call it a prison. It’s good that animals don’t know about suicide because if they did, we probably would not have zoos because there would be no animals. We weep at imprisoned animals but rejoice to send our children-more precious than any animal- to a place where our experts turn creative and happy children into ignorant drug addicts and depressed and suicidal teens. Can we stop THIS, at least? OK, I’ve had my say, thank you for listening. I understand if you want to delete it.
The small turtle against the glass is hard to forget. Not because it is dramatic, but because it is ordinary. Maybe the real discomfort is not seeing confinement. It is noticing how quickly we become calm enough to keep watching it. And maybe listening is where the emotion returns before the explanation does.
The new horse I believe is at the Bronx zoo. This sounds like it. Growing up going to the three in NY (Prospect Park, Central Park and Bronx) I did believe the animals were 'rescued' from the wild, as a child, I spent adult time at these and feel the isolation and sadness. But I also wonder how would we city bred kids even know about these animals. This is such good writing. I'm moved.
It's not well known, but the Indianapolis Prize, sponsored by the Indianapolis Zoo, is the largest wildlife conservation prize in the world. It supports the world of conservationists saving species and habitats around the world. It's undoubtedly a good thing. Still, my feelings about zoos are mixed. A recent trip to Zambia muddled things further: When you see these animals in their natural environment, the desire to protect them and educate people about them makes a strong argument for the work zoos do—while making you feel sad for the individual animals living in even well-designed captivity.
This line was excellent: “An eagle looked right at us, proud as death.” Captures something very real about the eagle’s posture, while also creating an interior for him — a pride, an ego.
Visit the zoo in Omaha, NE. Finest in the world, does tons of good work! Then read Isak Dinesen’s Out Of Africa, Chapter 18: Some African Birds, specifically about flamingos. I, too, oscillate.
I empathize with your reaction. That said, [good] zoos can and do play an important role in long-term species and habitat conservation. And it's generally no longer the case that the animals housed in [good] zoos have been taken from the wild, unless they were injured, abandoned, etc. and are unable to survive there. I would love to take you to the Indianapolis Zoo.
Ooooof.
One has to take zoos on their own terms, or not take them.
Saddest here to me was the orangutan and the sheets.
Once at the Sun Diego Zoo I was at the rhinoceros enclosure, which consisted of a couple of fair sized ponds surrounded by paths and vegetation, and watched a mama rhino teaching her baby rhino … basically how to be a rhino. Baby followed mama into, then out of the first pond, then the second, then around and around and over again. I stayed there for probably half an hour just watching them. Unbelievably all by myself.
One time at the Seattle Zoo I was trying to make friends with a dromedary and discovered they spit. He was a good aim. I expect you would have liked him, Henry. I kinda did too.
You might like the Bronx Zoo, in NYC, where the animals live in large habitats and the people are well-distanced observers. I have wept at some zoos; not at this one.
I hope I’m not offending anybody but this whole picture of the zoo and the captured animals and them not knowing or understanding that they are captives -even if it’s for “their own good,” reminds me of what’s happening to our children in public school where human beings are put in a box and labeled, where creativity is curtailed, where original thinking is look down upon, where morals are not morals anymore- but politics. They call it an educational system and a school, but I call it a prison. It’s good that animals don’t know about suicide because if they did, we probably would not have zoos because there would be no animals. We weep at imprisoned animals but rejoice to send our children-more precious than any animal- to a place where our experts turn creative and happy children into ignorant drug addicts and depressed and suicidal teens. Can we stop THIS, at least? OK, I’ve had my say, thank you for listening. I understand if you want to delete it.
The small turtle against the glass is hard to forget. Not because it is dramatic, but because it is ordinary. Maybe the real discomfort is not seeing confinement. It is noticing how quickly we become calm enough to keep watching it. And maybe listening is where the emotion returns before the explanation does.
The Panther
In Jardin des Plantes, Paris
His vision, from the constantly passing bars,
has grown so weary that it cannot hold
anything else. It seems to him there are
a thousand bars; and behind the bars, no world.
As he paces in cramped circles, over and over,
the movement of his powerful soft strides
is like a ritual dance around a center
in which a mighty will stands paralyzed.
Only at times, the curtain of the pupils
lifts, quietly—. An image enters in,
rushes down through the tensed, arrested muscles,
plunges into the heart and is gone.
Rainer Maria Rilke (Translated by Stephen Mitchell)
The new horse I believe is at the Bronx zoo. This sounds like it. Growing up going to the three in NY (Prospect Park, Central Park and Bronx) I did believe the animals were 'rescued' from the wild, as a child, I spent adult time at these and feel the isolation and sadness. But I also wonder how would we city bred kids even know about these animals. This is such good writing. I'm moved.
It's not well known, but the Indianapolis Prize, sponsored by the Indianapolis Zoo, is the largest wildlife conservation prize in the world. It supports the world of conservationists saving species and habitats around the world. It's undoubtedly a good thing. Still, my feelings about zoos are mixed. A recent trip to Zambia muddled things further: When you see these animals in their natural environment, the desire to protect them and educate people about them makes a strong argument for the work zoos do—while making you feel sad for the individual animals living in even well-designed captivity.
This line was excellent: “An eagle looked right at us, proud as death.” Captures something very real about the eagle’s posture, while also creating an interior for him — a pride, an ego.
They are so sad. The Mystic (CN) Aquarium has two white, Beluga whales which swim in a small pool in endless circles. Disgusting.
Visit the zoo in Omaha, NE. Finest in the world, does tons of good work! Then read Isak Dinesen’s Out Of Africa, Chapter 18: Some African Birds, specifically about flamingos. I, too, oscillate.