don't go to the zoo

don't go to the zoo, especially the Oregon Zoo. 

all zoos are depressing, but the folks at the Oregon Zoo have made little to no effort to recreate natural habitats for their african and southeast asian animal captives. the monkeys jump around behind glass, between beige concrete walls, and stare forlornly at the gawking crowds of screaming children and their frazzled parents. the elephants live on what looks to be a large circus stage without a tent. the giraffe was confined to giraffe prison: a narrow, high-ceiling room secured by two steel gates. the giraffe ate from a box and drank from a small sink, and defecated in the corner. the cougar exists on a small strip of land behind a fence. each and every animal we saw at the zoo looked miserable, even the cows and the goats. the only animal who appeared somewhat content was the otter: he glided back and forth in his little pond, retreated halfway into his den, reappeared, swam, retreated, reappeared, etc., all with a pleasant otter smile on his sweet face.


i felt grossly hypocritical to be one of the crowd, pressing up against the glass, leaning over the fence, craning my neck to really see.
not to mention, it was $2 tuesday, so every family in the portland metro area was crammed into the place, and for every adult there seemed to be four kids, and these kids were everywhere, screaming, hitting, running into people. some of the children were on leashes, and the guardians pulled their kids right along, redirecting them if need be with a quick shortening of the rope. we witnessed a little boy walk up to a stranger and take her ice cream. we saw a brother smack his sister in the face as their mother looked on and laughed hysterically.


before yesterday's excursion, i hadn't been to a zoo since my parents last took me to the Bronx Zoo when i was a teenager, unless you count the Look Park petting zoo in Florence, MA. i had forgotten how wrong it feels to stare, even with wonder, at these animals that simply don't belong where they are. elephants and giraffes and cougars and lions don't belong in oregon. i imagine that parents would want their children to see firsthand the most magnificent beasts and birds from faraway lands, but  the zoo is a sad way for children to learn about wild animals. the entire experience lacks all authenticity and reality. one of the most irritating aspects of the Oregon Zoo is the Africa exhibit, complete with mud huts and drum circles. a skeletal and halfhearted approximation of culture. what i want to know is, why not sell the zoo, return the animals to their true land, and donate all of the money to furthering the protection and conservation movements in the third world? 

do:
see fantastic mr. fox

do:
read island by aldous huxley