A Love - Hate Relationship

 

 

Cougar, Henry Doorly Zoo, Omaha, NE

 

 

There's something about going to a zoo that I really love.  The chance to see animals that aren't normally found wandering the streets of Des Moines is worth the drive to Omaha or Kansas City. 

 

There's something I really hate about zoos.  To see those magnificent creatures, miracles of God's handiwork, trapped behind steel wire in tiny cages breaks my heart.

One of the most valuable  things that zoos provide is the opportunity for children to see animals close up.  To feel the thrill of looking a tiger in the eye!  

If only a handful of the children that visit a zoo walk away with a deep sense of wonder about wildlife perhaps it will all be worth it.  Maybe that little girl will one day grow up to become the Jane Goodall of tigers, or the Dian Fossey of bears.

Perhaps, just perhaps, one day a species will continue to walk the earth because of this little girl.  A species that will one day lead to a  cure for cancer.

It's also important to keep in mind that zoo's have helped keep some species alive.  There are species of animals today that exist only in zoos. 

The Species Survival Plan (SSP) was developed in 1981 by the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA) to help preserve species that are nearing extinction, with the hope to re-introduce these species to the wild where they can thrive.  As of 2007 there were 172 different species being helped by 116 different programs in the SSP.

Zoos also provide valuable educational services, especially to their local communities.  The AZA provides programs to help educate children and families, to train educators, and provide research opportunities in the biological sciences.

While all this may be true, there are times when it disturbs me to think about the individuals. 

However much good the zoos may do for the health of the ecology, and human society, can that justify the indignity that some animals suffer? 

Certainly the better zoos spend considerable time, effort, and money to provide their charges with what zoo keepers call "enrichment."  They look for new and better ways to provide a combination of entertainment and education.  Hiding food under barrels for the cougar to find, or more intricate rope swings for the apes to explore.

There are some people who take the position that mankind was given dominion over the Earth and all creatures on it by God. 

That's not a belief that I could say I agree with, yet I can accept it at face value.

But when that's used as an excuse to treat any animal any way you want, I object.   When God is invoked to try and justify cruelty of any form, I object. 

With great power comes great responsibility. If mankind does have "dominion" over the Earth then it is given in God's name not as an absolute right, but as a revocable stewardship. 

The creatures of the Earth are not our property but our responsibility.

As for the zoos, I'll continue to visit whenever the opportunity and time allow.  I'll marvel at the animals, and reach out to them with my heart, hoping we humans are living up to our responsibility to them.  I'll wonder if, when all is said and done, the zoos gave more back to nature than was taken.

And I'll wonder, how do they get away with charging $4 for a small soda?