Captive
and Mysterious
We all enjoy the opportunity to be able to go to a zoo to look at
different exotic animals. Also, there are some of us who enjoy having some of
these exotic animals as pets. However, though we may enjoy it, it might not be
the same for a select few of these animals. For example, there have been many
incidents where tigers, whales, monkeys, and even a lion came into harmful
contact with humans. There are certain species of animals who need to be kept
in their natural habitats to create safer situations for humans, easier life
style for the animal, and keep the “circle of life,” rotating the way it always
has been.
Not all animals have caused problems
being in captivity, the most well known situations have involved tigers, a
chimpanzee, a whale, and a lion. Out of these situations the one involving the
famous Las Vegas performers, Siegfried and Roy, is extremely well known. Roy
was performing on stage when unexpectedly, one of their most prized tigers
attacked leaving Roy severely injured, and almost bled to death. However,
that’s not the only traumatizing interaction humans have had with certain
animals, there was a similar situation that happened at Sea World between a
killer whale and it’s trainer. “Tilikum
grabbed veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau by her ponytail and drowned her in front
of park guests.” (Jason Garcia). There was another incident that involved Moe a chimpanzee and his
owners. James Davis and his wife LaDonna lived in the suburbs of Los Angeles,
and Moe had been their pet for many years. Everything was all fine until one
day in 1999 when Moe attacked a police officer, as well as another woman. After
that Moe was sent to an animal sanctuary, and when Davis was visiting one day,
two other chimpanzees escaped from their cages and almost mauled him to death.
On top of all that, there have been a number of tiger escapes, and attacks at
Zoo’s. These are just situations to consider. Animals are impossible to read.
There is never any way to tell what actions they are going to take. They have a
mind of their own, and certain are born with their own instincts that no matter
how much we believe we can control, we can’t.
Now, this essay is not intended to
make animals seem like monsters, it’s also to () the idea that some of these
zoos and people’s homes might not be as good as an environment as we think.
Though zoo’s are intended to save a lot of animals from going extinct, which I
believe is a wonderful thing, most of their enclosures just cannot compare to
their habitats out in the wild. Animals in captivity do not get the interaction
with the environment that they normally would or that they should if they were
still in their natural habitats. Animals in captivity are “bored” and
often/most of the time they spend the majority of their time sleeping, or
laying and sitting around. They are by far not as active as they would be if
they were in the wild. It’s boredom like this that can lead to the unexpected
and dangerous actions they take towards humans. An advocate for animal
protection, Marc Bekoff thinks, “zoo’s should change their standards, so that
their animals can live better.” Also, these animals that are in captivity just don’t
have the amount of room they would have if they were out about in their natural
habitats. For example, “the Siberian tiger, wanders over immense territories of
100 and 1,000 square kilometers.” (Baratay, 263). Gerald Durrell responded to
that fact by stating, “By caging an animal, one deprives it of the possibility
of making organized journeys.” Animals need freedom. They need to space, and
the ability to do what they were born to do. Many animals in captivity cannot
fulfill all the things they feel the need to do. One could argue, but if t hey
are born into captivity, they won’t know any different. That may be the case,
but then again it comes down to instinct. All animals of a certain species are
born with the same instincts of the animals in that same species. So now matter
where they are born, in the wild, or in captivity, they will acquire the same
instincts as those before them. Therefore, if these certain instincts can be
practiced best in the wild, the animals in captivity will have some
difficulties. The behavior of us humans however is not necessarily helping the
cause of keeping these animals natural habitats safe. “Wild animals are rarely
part of our daily lives, and it is that easy to forget how much everything we
humans do affects them.” (Morel, 263).
Not only do animals in captivity create
dangerous interactions, and suffer in their enclosures, but it could also
affect the overall circle of life out in the wild. For example, predators prey
on a certain species. That’s just how it has to be, however, if they aren’t
there to feed on these animals, these animals could end up over populating.
Animals need to be able to run their course, do what they were intended to do.
Of course, our actions for these zoo’s and other wildlife preserves are in fact
helping with the extinction of certain animals, these animals that might have
gone extinct before we stepped in, will never get to experience the wild life
they were meant to have the way their ancestors did.
Clearly, wild animals have been
fascinating people for years. And although zoos are a wonderful and successful
part of the world, and of people’s lives, there are just certain things to
consider. Animals, like us humans, have a mind of their own. They are
unpredictable. Their actions may be surprising either in an amusing way, or a
dangerous way. There is no way to know which it is going to be, and there is
some thought that should go into deciding if it’s an action worth experiencing.
Citations:
Baratay, Eric, and
Elisabeth Hardouin-Fugier. Zoo: A History of Zoological Gardens in the West.
London: Reaktion, 2002. Print.
Garcia, Jason.
"SeaWorld Trainers Now Tend Killer Whale from a Distance." Los
Angeles Times 22 Mar. 2010: n. pag. Print.
Morell, Virginia. Animal
Wise. New York: Crown, n.d. Print.
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