You go to the zoo on a warm winter day hoping that you are going to see some animals. The hope is that the weather will be warm enough to encourage the animals to come out and sun themselves, thus allowing you to see them, yet just cool enough to discourage the normal zoo patrons from showing up in droves and ruining the whole day with their... well, normal behavior.
Most visits to the zoo seem like a waste of time; the animals seem annoyed by the attention, and the patrons seem annoyed by the lack of entertainment value coming from the animals. I heard in China that parents have started dumping their children into the pens with the wild animals to watch them devour them. Hmmm, that's a thought. Twisted, but it's thinking outside of the box. Animals get some joy, and everyone but the chew-toy shaped child gets a show! Watching the animals eat is far more entertaining than watching them sleep or sling poo.
I'm not sure what I prefer more; the animals or the people who go to zoos to see the animals. Sometimes they can be far more interesting than the animals themselves. If you're not sure if you're one of these people, I have a few clues to help you.
First off; if you bring a child to the zoo who is under five years of age - you're on the list. If you have older children with you, you're borderline. Honestly, what good does it do to bring a two year old to the zoo? Does your three old traditionally like four hour walks? Are they patient and respectful children most of the time? Is your child scared of dogs it doesn't know? Perhaps you should really think about what you're asking of little junior before you drag him into a phobia inducing hell. I'm sure you feel that being a parent means you have to take your kids to the zoo to show your toddler what a red panda looks like, but relax, it's just a rumor. Do everyone a favor and stay home until the kid can tie their own shoes. There is nothing in the parent code that says you need to take your little bag of snot to the zoo until it can, at the very least, spell panda.
Second; if you're walking with your child near pens which hold dangerous animals, and you put the child up on your shoulders and lean forward in an effort to scare the child into thinking it's falling in the pen - you're on the list. And you're a douche bag. You're doing it for your entertainment only and your developing a phobia in the child. When your child screams like that... it annoys the animals... and everyone else. If you want to entertain everyone, jump in the pen with the lions and let everyone watch you try to get away. That's hilarious. I'm sure your kids will love to see their "pa" being nibbled on by a big kitty.
Lastly; If you keep making comments about how much fun it would be to hunt the animals you see, you're on the list. The idea with zoos is to encourage conservation and to educate, not to stimulate your loins and feed your bloodlust. If you want to hunt something, turn your gun on the dumb ass running around in the lion pen who keeps screaming for someone to save him. Killing animals with a gun isn't hard, and you bragging about is twice as dull as you actually doing it.
Look ma, that bear is cuddly!
The purpose for a zoo is to be a source of continuing education. They were originally intended to show those of us in "civilized" society what exotic animals look like that only existed in far away lands. Prior to zoos, there were only written accounts of these animals, maybe the occasional drawing but not much else. To fully understand an animal you need to see one in person and if you couldn't travel to a zoo, the zoo would travel to you by way of the circus. It may seem trivial to us now, but at the time the traveling circus was thrilling. So much so that all other forms of entertainment were shadowed by it. Of course, all of this comes before photography, Steve Irwin, and quality B horror films ruined our perception of exotic animals. They killed the age of the zoo and the circus for us all.
What are zoos now? If children want to see a tiger they can go to the internet. And if they go see one in person and all it does is lay there, they won't be as impressed. We can't say zoos really hold up their value for their original intention, which is why you have to stop looking at the animals in the zoo and start looking at the patrons instead.
The other type of zoo patron which can be a great source of amusement are the ones who feel that zoos are a prison. True, this isn't a natural habitat for these animals, but most of these animals aren't stolen from their natural habitats and then placed in the zoo. That chimp isn't Curious George having been placed in the cage by the Man in the Yellow Hat. Most, if not all of the animals, were born in zoos, or were rescued from private owners, a circus or research facilities. These are animals that have never known a free life in their natural habitat and probably wouldn't like it if they had the chance to go. For example, the gorilla we saw at the zoo today was raised by a human. He was hand fed and doesn't know any of the habits of free range gorillas. In fact, when placed in an enclosure with other gorillas, he attacks them, so he gets the gorilla exhibit to himself because he wants it that way. He also doesn't know where to find food as he has only ever been fed by a handler six times a day and wouldn't know the first thing about finding his own food in the wild.
If you lived in a house with a big yard with a large fence around it and all you had to do was whatever you liked INSIDE the fence, would you be okay with it? You are fed, given medical care, and occasionally the people who feed you will try to bring you someone to breed with. You have never seen what is outside that wall. You have no idea what else is going on around you. You just know that you get to sleep, hump and eat all the time and nothing else is expected of you. There are no predators. No enemies. No fears. No concerns. Except that people want to stare at you while you do nothing all day. Now how cruel is that life?
What I can't understand is why do the people who hate zoos because they think they're cruel to animals, go to zoos? Are they there doing undercover work? Trying to build a case? And if so, why did they bring their three year old?
I love the zoo. I go often. The KC zoo has polar bears. As the tiny kid behind me explained to his dad, "the darker white one is smaller than the whiter one who is bigger; and the white one is bigger than the other one which is darker, and smaller."
Cute.
Most visits to the zoo seem like a waste of time; the animals seem annoyed by the attention, and the patrons seem annoyed by the lack of entertainment value coming from the animals. I heard in China that parents have started dumping their children into the pens with the wild animals to watch them devour them. Hmmm, that's a thought. Twisted, but it's thinking outside of the box. Animals get some joy, and everyone but the chew-toy shaped child gets a show! Watching the animals eat is far more entertaining than watching them sleep or sling poo.
I'm not sure what I prefer more; the animals or the people who go to zoos to see the animals. Sometimes they can be far more interesting than the animals themselves. If you're not sure if you're one of these people, I have a few clues to help you.
First off; if you bring a child to the zoo who is under five years of age - you're on the list. If you have older children with you, you're borderline. Honestly, what good does it do to bring a two year old to the zoo? Does your three old traditionally like four hour walks? Are they patient and respectful children most of the time? Is your child scared of dogs it doesn't know? Perhaps you should really think about what you're asking of little junior before you drag him into a phobia inducing hell. I'm sure you feel that being a parent means you have to take your kids to the zoo to show your toddler what a red panda looks like, but relax, it's just a rumor. Do everyone a favor and stay home until the kid can tie their own shoes. There is nothing in the parent code that says you need to take your little bag of snot to the zoo until it can, at the very least, spell panda.
Second; if you're walking with your child near pens which hold dangerous animals, and you put the child up on your shoulders and lean forward in an effort to scare the child into thinking it's falling in the pen - you're on the list. And you're a douche bag. You're doing it for your entertainment only and your developing a phobia in the child. When your child screams like that... it annoys the animals... and everyone else. If you want to entertain everyone, jump in the pen with the lions and let everyone watch you try to get away. That's hilarious. I'm sure your kids will love to see their "pa" being nibbled on by a big kitty.
Lastly; If you keep making comments about how much fun it would be to hunt the animals you see, you're on the list. The idea with zoos is to encourage conservation and to educate, not to stimulate your loins and feed your bloodlust. If you want to hunt something, turn your gun on the dumb ass running around in the lion pen who keeps screaming for someone to save him. Killing animals with a gun isn't hard, and you bragging about is twice as dull as you actually doing it.
The purpose for a zoo is to be a source of continuing education. They were originally intended to show those of us in "civilized" society what exotic animals look like that only existed in far away lands. Prior to zoos, there were only written accounts of these animals, maybe the occasional drawing but not much else. To fully understand an animal you need to see one in person and if you couldn't travel to a zoo, the zoo would travel to you by way of the circus. It may seem trivial to us now, but at the time the traveling circus was thrilling. So much so that all other forms of entertainment were shadowed by it. Of course, all of this comes before photography, Steve Irwin, and quality B horror films ruined our perception of exotic animals. They killed the age of the zoo and the circus for us all.
What are zoos now? If children want to see a tiger they can go to the internet. And if they go see one in person and all it does is lay there, they won't be as impressed. We can't say zoos really hold up their value for their original intention, which is why you have to stop looking at the animals in the zoo and start looking at the patrons instead.
The other type of zoo patron which can be a great source of amusement are the ones who feel that zoos are a prison. True, this isn't a natural habitat for these animals, but most of these animals aren't stolen from their natural habitats and then placed in the zoo. That chimp isn't Curious George having been placed in the cage by the Man in the Yellow Hat. Most, if not all of the animals, were born in zoos, or were rescued from private owners, a circus or research facilities. These are animals that have never known a free life in their natural habitat and probably wouldn't like it if they had the chance to go. For example, the gorilla we saw at the zoo today was raised by a human. He was hand fed and doesn't know any of the habits of free range gorillas. In fact, when placed in an enclosure with other gorillas, he attacks them, so he gets the gorilla exhibit to himself because he wants it that way. He also doesn't know where to find food as he has only ever been fed by a handler six times a day and wouldn't know the first thing about finding his own food in the wild.
If you lived in a house with a big yard with a large fence around it and all you had to do was whatever you liked INSIDE the fence, would you be okay with it? You are fed, given medical care, and occasionally the people who feed you will try to bring you someone to breed with. You have never seen what is outside that wall. You have no idea what else is going on around you. You just know that you get to sleep, hump and eat all the time and nothing else is expected of you. There are no predators. No enemies. No fears. No concerns. Except that people want to stare at you while you do nothing all day. Now how cruel is that life?
What I can't understand is why do the people who hate zoos because they think they're cruel to animals, go to zoos? Are they there doing undercover work? Trying to build a case? And if so, why did they bring their three year old?
I love the zoo. I go often. The KC zoo has polar bears. As the tiny kid behind me explained to his dad, "the darker white one is smaller than the whiter one who is bigger; and the white one is bigger than the other one which is darker, and smaller."
Cute.
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