The Zoo - A Story About A Love-Hate-Relationship
Is this going to be a rant blogpost? I don't even know myself as I'm writing these lines. There is something about Zoo's that excites me but then again there are also some things that make me feel bad, yet almost guilty when I think about them.
Do we really need Zoos? Is there a better reason to keep huge animals locked up in way to tiny enlcosures than for people to watch them? How would you as a Human Being feel if you would be on the other side of the 18'high glass wall?
These questions are just some of the ones coming up in my mind every once in a while and are mostly the reason why I dont visit them all too often. I do think its important though to think about the answers of questions like above.
I would love to see no animal in caputre because no creature on this planet really deserves to be locked up. Just thinking about the lions (territory of 260 sq. km/100 sq. mi.) or tigers (territory of 10 000 sq. km/4000 sq. mi.) we have in our zoo makes me feel nauseous. Their enclosures are so small already and last time I went they were not even able to go into their outside enclosure! And yeah I'm sure the zoo staff had their reason but it still sucked to see that.
There are so many great documentaries out there, is it really neccessary to have animals locked up so people can see them live completetly out of their normal habitat with no normal habits whatsoever? Am I the only one seeing the emptiness in animals eyes when they look at me just like they gave up on themselves and a part of them is dead already?
When that happens to me I always feel really sorry for these animals.
Yet again it also has its advantages. People, especially kids, learn about animals easily. That cows are not purple like a certain chocolate brand and also that there is more animals than farm animals, cats and dogs.
From a photographers perspective - even more. You can train your skills for shooting all kinds of animals or prepare yourself with compositions for the upcoming safari you are going on. You can get closeups of animals that you would have to track down days in their natural habitat and right after you shoot another animal that would live on a different continent.
The way I see it, we maybe shouldn't get rid of zoos all in all, but maybe change the way they work. Less is more is what I'm talking about.
Have less animals in the zoo, but bigger enclosures for them to be themselves. In locations where the option is given, just increase the size of the zoo and when there is a new one about to be built just make it double or triple the size, but not lock up more animals! Quantity is not everything in life and this is for sure one big thing zoos could work on. And maybe then I would also get a year pass for it!
What's your opinion on that? Let me know down in the comments below!