How I Love Zoos - Zoo Diligo or Zoo Contemno

The other day I saw a wild animal trying to get into the San Diego Zoo.

But zoos are constructed to keep in, house once wild animals safely, humanely, and they have restraints of various kinds to achieve their purpose; bars, wire fences, moats, glass windows, double doors and one-way-view glass. To house means that the creatures inside are penned up, not a nice concept. ‘Penned up’ gives one the feeling of imprisoned or incarcerated. But what I saw the other day happens in most zoos, some creatures actually like to get into the cages of the zoos for a closer look, or simply fall in as some people do.

The sparrow was just big enough to fit through the tiny openings in the wire mesh that surrounds the San Diego Zoo Aviary. It squeezed through, looked around and flew directly to the feeder on which a number of wiggly worms and grubs were writhing, picked up a juicy grub and flew back, squeezed through and flew in a beeline to its nest where it fed its not terribly hungry babies, actually sated offspring. Not long ago I saw wild ducks fly into the flamingo pond, have a snack, mate, take a nap and then on some impulse fly off again. But wait, not only birds get into the zoo, mammals as well. Ready? Rats and mice thrive, if left alone and not fed poison contained in cute little feeders hidden from sight. Squirrels in San Diego Park were so successful in breeding that they became a menace to the tourists and, yes, now I feel it, guilt, they were quietly poisoned.

Yes, I have a love-hate relationship with zoos. In fact my family will attest to this, that in most major cities where we have traveled, I have made a point of  visiting at the local zoo; London, Amsterdam, Central Park Zoo and even Lahore. But now, having mentioned Lahore, we have embarked on an entirely different idea, a dislike for zoos   instead of a lover of zoos. Sorry, the Lahore Zoo that I visited frequently during my 1984-85 stay in Pakistan had a few problems, which I am sure must now have been all corrected. But as late as 2004 there have been a number of reports about this particular zoo that makes it hard to love. Just ‘google’ Lahore Zoo and you will see what I mean. “Zebra kicks giraffe to death” and “tiger dies from eating tainted antelope meat” and “antelope dies from insect bite poisoning” and pictures of bars, small cages and penned animals. During mid-eighties it was not a very pleasant place to go. There were neurotic animals that paced behind the bars that incarcerated them, back and forth, stepping in the exact same places with their feet; some staring at the wall with backs to the bars trying to ignore the taunts of the kids throwing channa at them. The inhabitants used their pens as ‘restrooms’ which made the visit odoriferous until the goo wallah got a chance to clean it up later on with a hose, or a shovel in the elephant enclosure. What alternative did they have? When I see animals abused because of the way they are confined, the way they are removed from their natural habitat, I have a feeling of real sadness and frustration.

I recognize that in the last twenty years that much has been done to improve the Lahore Zoo. But, ("Lahore Zoo still needs a lot of improvement": Pakistan National News Desk). Attempts have been made to purchase more property, to give the animals bigger cages and monitor the sanitation situation better. Zoos cost lots of money to maintain and where budgets are low, optimal care and attractive facilities are usually lacking. The zookeepas may lack appropriate training. At least they have a better title than those who maintain the museums, the ajibkhana wallahs.

There are some zoos that are the cats’ meow!

Aaman Lamba found such a place. In his “Travel Review: Mysore Zoo” June 13, 2009, he presents a zoo diligo report, with color pictures that are stunning! Just reading the article was a treat since I could get a vicarious trip rather cheaply to Mysore and see lovely, well fed and happy animals, all except for the stork that looked half crocked. (I must refrain from anthropomorphism, happy?) Aaman’s travel review struck a chord with me about zoos in general in spite of my loving to visit them. Guilt again!

When I was a youngster my father took me to a high security prison where he knew the chief Warden, who personally showed us around. We walked past row upon row of cells and in spite of my fear of all those prisoners behind bars I did notice that they all looked very well fed, but there were a few who looked like the stork, half crocked, bored and frustrated. (You see even the pelicans in Aaman’s article had wing feathers clipped on one wing which made it impossible for them to fly away), and the prisoners I saw all looked like they had had their wings clipped as well. But I heard the warden describe the crimes committed by the men behind bars, rapists, murderers, and heaven forbid, even swindlers who cheated those who had invested with them. I did not feel guilt, only fear and a resolve that I would never get caught dead…, no; never commit a crime which would put me in such a dismal place. Good going dad.

This memory of prison always comes back to me when I visit a Zoo, even the world’s “most wonderful zoo” the famous San Diego Zoo. Aaman pulled out a wonderful quotation from the New York Times when it addressed concerns in an article about a snow leopard exhibit in the Central Park Zoo. “…one of the dominant impulses in the contemporary zoo is a guilty conscience…” The implication was that the reason zoos are being improved and made attractive is because of past guilt because of how animals were confined.

The San Diego Zoo as well as the Mysore Zoo both tries to address the old problems of small cages and prison-like environments for animals. They have changed the environments of the animals to look like natural habitats, trees, streams, rocks, green grass, places for privacy and even flowers! In many instances the animals seem to be free, roaming around ‘happily’ and the people are the ones behind the bars. The smells sometimes linger in places like the camel exhibit, but the zoos are clean.

Still guilt? Yes. Modern attractive zoos are possible because of the large donations of many wealthy people and with ticket sales amounting to millions. But with that money wild animals have been captured and put in relatively limited enclosures. Some zoos such as The San Diego Wild Animal Park has gone the extra mile and provides an ‘African safari’ tour and drives ticket purchasers among the animals in a few acres of territory, but the animals’ space is miniscule compared to the environments in the natural state from which the animals came. And I thought Kruger Park was small! So guilt remains.

What are the good reasons for zoos? Why did M. Jackson create a small zoo? Why did many Indian rajahs have their own private zoos?

Perhaps the answer is that those who created zoos did so to attract the public to a ‘circus’, to see the bizarre, the unusual, rare animals of the world that they otherwise would never be able to see. Were their motives were highly altruistic? Perhaps the rajahs made their own zoos for the same reason that people keep pets in the confinement of their own small apartments, or have gold fish swimming endlessly in round glass jars. “Don’t forget to feed the fish, honey.”

I have been doing some soul searching as I write. Why did I, during my lifetime, keep chickens, turkeys, pigeons, ducks, geese, fish, a pet antelope, sheep, two Arabian horses, a python, a donkey, rhino beetles, a wild cuckoo and even pet lizards? Why did my wife become upset when I wanted to raise ostriches or adopt wild horses?  Why? I find the question hard to answer. Obviously, I love animals, I love to watch them, I love to see the newborn which are so cute, I love it that they are all dependent on me and that they come for a handout, for a pat and a pet on the head. I loved the attention others gave me and my menagerie. It certainly gave us all something to talk about. Or was it that I was just lonely?

Or that I made animals a hobby like some make stamp collecting a hobby? Oh dear, I collected stamps and butterflies as well.

Now put the same question to the director of any major zoo and you may get different answers. ‘Oh, they provide a place where endangered species are nurtured and precious gene pools are preserved.’ ‘There are many animals now in zoos that no longer roam, crawl or fly naturally in the world. Zoos provide a wonderful place to educate the public about the diversity of life forms, the amazing life styles of creatures, and how animals from various habitats have adapted.’ ‘Zoos collect and freeze dry reproductive material of a huge variety of animals so that future generations will be able to see animals that become extinct.’ ‘Zoos act as stud farms, and maintain pedigree records to enhance breeding of rare animals.’ ‘Ever
since I got my doctorate in zoology I have directed zoos. Zoos are my science experiment.’ ‘Zoos are beautiful and perform a public service. Zoos educate, entertain and provide places for tourists to visit and entertain themselves for a while. ” I get the message.

The word endangered shows up on lots of signs in many zoos. Slightly endangered, endangered, highly endangered, and even, extinct in the wild. Now I understand.

Every now and then a story is published about the very last living creature of a given species which died in a zoo and the tragic of loss of such a life form. Do you remember Passenger Pigeons? Yes, as the New York Times article said, “…nature here is a stage set, portraying something we want to see and something we believe animals want to see.” Now when I go to the San Diego Zoo, I look at the props, the fake rocks, (heated?) the water falls and even the ersatz trees and appreciate how well staged the exhibits are, world class staging! I become upset when the ‘actors’ decide

to sleep, hidden away from view. Now when I go to see animal trainers put on shows with all sorts of animals on stage I appreciate what zoos are all about.

A place where human animals can meet other animals. I still love them, zoo diligo. Today there were hundreds of animals lined up to buy tickets to the local zoo, waiting to get in for a day of fun, wonder and ‘Mom, what are those Bonobo chimps doing to each other?’ Snap, snap. Oh, there are now small grey lizards that have found a new food source in the San Diego Zoo aviary. Look carefully and you will see them scurry into the enclosure, pick up a grub and do push-ups on the warm fake rocks.