We have been to the zoo, as a kid and as an adult. Only couple of times ever, and I can remember as a kid I did enjoy it. With a bag of peanuts in my hand, looking at animals closer is some experience, we cannot have even in a safari. In a Safari, we only can see few animals and it is different feel. Recently I went to the same zoo, as an adult. While the kids having similar wonderful time, I had the opportunity to observe.
Life in the Zoo Lions.
I saw the lions Sleeping. It was almost ten o'clock in the morning. They had some of the largest cages as expected with plenty of open areas, but with tall walls separating from visitors. If it was a wild savannah, the pride would have been on hunt in the morning, for some fresh impala. But here fresh meat is served specially prepared for them, so they do not catch any disease. Without any risk of dying early killed by their fathers, cubs even have a best chance of survival as well. But I know it is the animal rights authorities' efforts throughout the world which has brought the rules and regulations that they are cared for now. As for the common view of life in a cage is suffering, I could see the benefits of it as well. If you have read the previous article about Robert frost and what a wonderful world you would have identified the dangers of the wild. So, the real question is what the lions think about the question. Best scenario is to ask a lion who have lived both lives, or after explaining risks and benefits of all the choices. Who is intelligent enough to remember both options and weigh them to make an informed decision. Maybe we can make a council of lions who makes decisions on such matters on behalf of unborn Pride. The make it a law. But they have to consider, individual variations of choice when applying such law. The truth is we would never know, what individual lion wants.
Now you would understand such questions like animal ethics are not easy to answer. From superficial level it seems it is bad to change the nature by making a zoo, just for the entertainment of humans and some to make money. If you take the history, there had been actual human zoos, with kidnapped children from African tribes. Clearly it is unethical, yet on the other hand humans can convey what they really want, and they can make informed decision where they would like to stay (Although at the time of the human zoos, the privileged actually believed those tribal people were not able to make informed decisions at all)
Imagine you are a fish, in an aquarium. Would you rather be in it the rest of your life if you were given chance to freely roam in the wild. Humans can answer such complex questions but not fish.
Life in the Zoo Orangutan
Walking along the paths of the zoo, we came to the place where there was a Gigantic Orangutan. Clearly it looked sad (maybe it is their natural faces). He was sitting there on a Lattice made by humans with its gloomy frozen stare at us. The cage was in escapable. There was only one tree inside and it had a downward facing roof attached to its trunk so it could not even climb the tree. And it made me realize That is a Guy who likes to be in wild. But still, I would not know. We are never going to find out the real truth. Maybe it only wished for some female counterpart. Maybe it was the loss of a loved one. Suddenly I realized similar question which was difficult to answer.
The town mouse and the country mouse. Simply put the classic story tells us the same dilemma. I have previously discussed the problem of living in the town vs the country. But wherever we live, the problems in life are not going to go away, and it is sometimes hard to choose one over the other.
Compared to sad Orangutan, the chimpanzees were happy. They were doing some tricks. They spread their hands like Beggers and making sad faces and asking for treats from visitors. Some even were rewarded with food, although it was banned to feed them, obviously both parties didn't care about human rules. They have adapted and surviving. I am sure most of the animals are not in a position to decide for themselves where they should be. They seem to be not intelligent at all. If I ask the zookeeper, which animals she think is not happy in the zoo, she will surely point out to the ones. But obviously we have to agree some animals are too dumb. It would not make a difference for them where they are.
Life in the zoo animal ethics to Wars and Gods Realm.
It is something is fundamentally wrong to think about the zoo in this way. We can argue both for and against the keeping animals in the zoo. But we will never come to a conclusion. Maybe there is no answer to questions like these on animal ethics. Just like our Middle east, just like the town mouse and the country mouse, just like the theist and atheist. So maybe the way I look at the problem is wrong and maybe even the Zoo is just nature. If I shouldn't change the nature, and the zoo is also the nature, maybe I should just walk away without making it a problem, and that's Just what I did. Instead, I questioned the question before it becomes a missed opportunity.
So, what do you think about life in the zoo and animal ethics ?
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