Imagine a city with over a million trees. At this time, 2% have no leaves, 8% have autumn red leaves, 30% orange, 30% yellow and the remaining 30% are still green, waiting for stronger winds and rains to tear them from their branches. Autumn is beautiful, but sad, as nature, like a snake, sheds its skin, flora and fauna dying off, lying in untidy massive heaps everywhere. Add in a 2020 twist and as you turn into your suburbian main road, there are huge white boards every 200m stating CORONA TEST GGZ. Finally, you pass the ominous white tents with pandemic closed doors and wonder, with nature all red and orange and on high alert, the last things we feel like right now is a Covid-19 reminder. But such is life. To escape the restlessness I visited the zoo.
chimps have large natural trees to climb and extra ropes for play
nature has created perfect creatures and watching their natural behaviour it is, no wonder we often like animals more than some humans
had actually wanted to
go to the Dolphinarium but too many parts were closed. In the back of my
mind was the idea of what and how to photograph moving subjects and the
thought of those who find zoos to be immoral. Living in Europe with cold seas surrounding us, dolphins in the wild or zebras on the
veld are a privilege only to those who live far away and isolated from
much of the most developed world with its ancient histories. While I fully understand that those born into countries of
isolated space can hardly imagine seeing animals locked up in a city
zoo, I'd like to argue just why zoos are morally okay. Firstly, zoos rescue tortured, ill treated or ill animals from all over
the world so the creatures have a better life. They are not nabbed from the wild and put into a cage. Secondly, city zoos
provide plentiful healthcare, nutritious food, and natural comfort residences that
animals would live in if in the wild albeit it not as big. Thirdly, animals
can live out the rest of their life safe from predators,
and put to sleep when there time comes so there is no pain in death as nature really doesn't
care about conscious beings suffering.
He/She lives in a massive rock cave surround by jungle like forestation, this is really zoomed in
goats on their mountain rock cave
giraffes wander with the zebra and a few buck in a large enclosure with water, trees and food
They never have to suffer drought, predators or snake bites
Yes, I believe animals are conscious. Anything with a nervous system must be conscious, not as in conscious as humans who have language, or who can experience anticipatory regret, but conscious beings who feel and strategise on how to survive and eat, Finally, a question to those who feel zoos are unnatural or immoral. How would people born
into countries where these creatures do not live ever learn about or experience of the joy of earths plentiful creatures if not for zoos? Or is that only a privilege to those who live in isolated wilderness? In zoos, children
learn to respect the wild and the overall joy it brings to humans is immense. Plus, the zoo keepers build healthy bonds with the animals and they are treated with love and care.
This white wolf is always hard to find as it lurks in its dense bushes hideout
behind dirty glass and with the phone
It's hard to believe this giant gorilla is a vegetarian! There was a squabble in the camp as a younger male, beating his chest challenged the boss and that didn't go down well
This huge male was playing with a huge tree stump rolling it around with his tusks. Up close, it really seems the eyes engage and look at you, such gentle creatures!
A lazy afternoon, cats will be cats
An advantage of visiting a zoo is that one really gets to see wildlife up close,
whereas on the savannah, some animals have to be spotted with
binoculars. If everyone had to fly
around the world just to see a lion, it would only be for the elite
privileged who could afford it.
These birds frequent and walk around many neighbourhoods, just like the ducks and geese who often cross the road in packs to get from one side of the park to the other. It is a fun spring activity to walk city canals to find the new ducklings, cignets and goslings. But these youngsters, I've never seen, they seem to be lone wolves.
My visit to the zoo last weekend was enthralling. Nowhere did I see animals acting unnaturally. The gorillas were having a family squabble, the seals where swimming their hearts out, lazy snakes and iguana lay sleeping around rocks and one snake actually yawned ,(I think) while birds preened themselves and groomed each other. Giraffes, squatted to drink, monkeys de-fleaed each other and played, fish of all sorts swam in clean beautiful plastic free tanks with natural corals, and the flora and fauna in the park must provide tons of clean air from the hundreds of massive trees.
For a city zoo it was magnificent and I was so happy to be able to view
earth's creatures, still the same, despite the unusual times we live in
right now. Not everything was open and yes it rained, but that is
autumn. Grey or misty dry skies, followed in ten minutes by a downpour
of torrential rains. Finally, a shout out to all those working in zoos
globally, you guys do a fantastic job and remind of us how important it
is to respect all creatures, especially those other than ourselves. Of
course, if you still feel zoos are immoral, feel free to say why in the
comment section. Thanks for reading! ps. The Netflix film documentary, My Teacher the Octopus is highly recommended.
