So, I didn’t really know what to expect. On the one hand (and
perhaps rather optimistically) I had imagined a collection that was the best
that a zoo could hope to be; the money they earn from supplying animals to
television companies etc. being reinvested into animal welfare and provision within
their own collections, or at the very least an investment into some form of
conservation work. In my experience, those people who work with animals do so
because they are passionate about wildlife and want to do all they can to help
species survive; they want to be the best they can be at their jobs, in order
to best help their animals. Then on the other hand, I expected something far
from what I’d deem acceptable and that would reinforce that feeling of discomfort
that had nestled deep in my stomach when watching that first episode of Our Zoo. Unfortunately, it was the
latter expectation that was met, and while I wasn’t really surprised that that
was the outcome, I have to say I was really disappointed.
I can’t help but think of one of the zookeepers I spoke to
for an oral history interview and how he talked about how invested he became in
his work, but also the commitment he had to various associations that monitored
the standard of zoological collections nationwide. In the later stages of his
career he invested so much time and energy into making sure these standards
were enforced and that zookeepers were trained to know the best ways to look
after their animals. Yet here we are, some 30 years later and things haven’t really
changed. Some zoological collections can still get away with cramming big cats
into tiny enclosures, having nocturnal
animals out in daylight and active because their routines have been disturbed
and having vulnerable and endangered species that aren’t part of breeding
programmes.
Again this is something I need to keep digging into to find
out more about the legislation and regulations that are in place. It might well
be that the problem is actually with the lack of regulations and not the direct
actions of the zoological collections, but instinctively I got angry. Maybe the
rules for private zoological collections are different, or maybe as a visitor
we have different expectations now. Have our sensibilities changed? And now, because
we visit them and we take our children, have the public become bigger
stakeholders in public zoological collections, and do they plan with us in mind
just as much as the animals? Does what
goes on behind closed doors not matter when we are not directly confronted with
it? These are all questions I’ve been left asking myself because I just don’t
understand how this is still acceptable and I don’t get why it’s still allowed
to carry on.
There was an interesting article recently that compared the
Zoo lates that take place at London Zoo, to a relic of the bygone Victorian age
and their desire to reduce animals to spectacle and you can’t really deny that this
mentally doesn’t still exist by some of those who work within professions
involving animals. I think I’d been quite naïve to it until recently, and now I
find my inner moral being questioning a lot more of what I see and hear.
I know there was anger earlier this year when the Queen’s
Speech at the State Opening of Parliament omitted mention of the proposed ban
on the use of wild animals in travelling circuses, that it was hoped would come
into being at the end of 2015 and I just wonder why that was? I know it’s not
top of the political agenda at the moment and there are more pressing issues at
hand, but why does there seem to be this hesitation to do anything? Furthermore,
why stop at their use in travelling circuses – I get that this will impact
people’s livelihoods and change the way of life for people that might have been
animal trainers for generations, but surely we are at a point where we need to
move past this and those skills people have acquired through their careers
utilised elsewhere and for the benefit of the wildlife.
The whole idea of animals being used for entertainment, even
if born from the decline of the circus, is outdated. We should be looking
elsewhere for sources of entertainment – animals are not put on this earth for
that purpose. We should be teaching our children to respect wildlife and the
benefits of promoting conservation – not “ooooo” and “ahhhing” as they’re
forced to do tricks for a round of applause and chunk of meat!
And then I think about somewhere like ZSL Whipsnade which I
visited on Sunday in order to be reminded of the positive work that zoological
collections can do. ZSL has come under fire recently for its Zoo Lates and
while its motives for holding those events are debateable, it is hard to deny
the value of the other programmes and organisations they are involved with and
the positive repercussions that come from that involvement. So a group of
friends and I went along and had a really nice day. One of the things I like
most about Whipsnade is the amount of space they can offer the animals, it’s
never going to be as good as their natural environment, but unlike a number of
zoos I’ve been too, there is a lot of space for the animals to roam around and
to hide from public view if they want to.
And while there, for the first time for a long time, I
actually sat and watched one of the scheduled ‘talks’ they hold throughout the
day. On this occasion it happened to be the Sea lion one, which normally I would
avoid because I don’t like to see animals used for entertainment purposes. It’s
the same reason (well that and my fear of clowns) that I won’t go to the circus
(I know you could argue this is the entire purpose of zoos – I am wading through
murky waters on this one!). But on this occasion I figured that it couldn’t be
as bad as I’d seen previously and I was right. The whole talk is built around a
narrative that highlights the importance of conservation and looking after our
wildlife. So every ‘trick’ is done with that in mind. Fetching hoops with
fishing netting on from the bottom of the pool informed the audience of the
danger to wildlife when fishing nets are just discarded into the ocean; picking
up a plastic bottle and placing it in the recycle bin promoted an
anti-littering message and highlighted the importance of recycling; and playing
dead wasn’t shown for the purpose of entertainment, but is a ‘exercise’ taught
to the animals for the purposes of animal husbandry and to allow keepers close
enough to conduct checks on their animals, in this case ultrasounds if the
animal happened to be pregnant, or to perhaps also check their teeth. After
each exercise each animal was rewarded, but equally if a Sea lion went off and
did its own thing, it wasn’t forced to come back (again as I’d seen previously)
the keepers just adapted and carried on and that was a notable contrast to
those who are taught purely for entertainment – after all time is money in that
situation. At the end of the Sea lion talk the keepers remind you that your
money helps with the upkeep of the animals at both Whipsnade and London Zoo and
also helps fund over 50 conservation programmes with which they are involved
and that is a really positive thing to be reminded of.
This whole topic is a complex one that is riddled with moral
and ethical questions and I’ve realised to conduct research, I am sometimes going
to have to do things that go against my principles. Visiting zoos is sometimes
the best source of information but equally, can be a difficult experience. I
will therefore continue to watch Our Zoo
because I’m interested in the historical aspect the drama is trying to convey –
but I will do that by sacrificing my principles because I don’t agree with the
training of animals purely for entertainment purposes. In my opinion, to
justify their existence zoological collections need to actively be
demonstrating commitment to conservation and the preservation of endangered and
vulnerable species. There should not still be a desire to ‘own’ animals for the
purposes of your own entertainment or for commercial purposes – too many
animals are at risk and efforts should be concentrated on encouraging future
generations to assist in preserving the world’s wildlife and not viewing it purely
for entertainment.
No doubt I will follow up on this blog once I've done further research.
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