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Natalie C. Rodic - My Blog
Natalie C. Rodic - My Blog
Ode to the Animals
Translations available in: English (original) | French | Spanish | Italian | German | Portuguese | Swedish | Russian | Dutch | Arabic

Instead of blogging today on an issue that I think I know a lot about and have a unique perspective to offer, I decided to write on an issue that I don’t know much about but want to investigate further and am solidifying my commitment by posting this blog entry. Although I don’t claim to know much about this topic upon which I am writing, I am feeling passionate about it, especially after a latent fluorescent light bulb went off in my head this past weekend.

I have always felt torn about zoos. I have respect and fascination for the animal kingdom - especially feeling love and amazement for the big cats and monkeys of all kinds, not to mention boggled by the vibrant personalities of meerkats.

But it has always been strange for me to stand in front of a glass wall and stare at the animals in the zoo as they go about their everyday business of eating, procreating, grooming, and sleeping. While I have to admit that I do revel with the other people observers, oohing and aahing over the level of cuteness these animals possess, I all the while feel bad for being allowed to stand and stare at these animals which are confined to cages much smaller than their original habitat.

So this weekend in a visit to the San Diego Zoo which is reputably one of the best in the world, I encountered both the guilty pleasure of staring at a sleeping jaguar for half an hour and deep apology for what my fellow humankind are doing for to animals in the wild. I decide not to take pictures which very quickly felt all too insulting to these amazing creatures – whether they’re aware of it or not, it just felt like humans at their most obnoxious.

Switching gears a bit here, moving outside of the zoo and to the natural habitats that remain on our planet: the light bulb that finally turned on in my brain was that not only are humans destroying each other in fights for what each other believes is right, but also destroying the environment with self-centered, depletist behavior. And alongside all that, we are destroying the livelihoods of these furry and fierce creatures that pre-date our existence for centuries or longer.

Despite my sadness I realized that there numerous and intensive counter efforts to undo what is being done by those with big guns or even the natural course of economic development. Questions remains though – are conservation efforts doing enough? Are human-centric ideals and the spirit of capitalism overshadowing the importance of preserving the animal kingdom? With all the problems the world is facing today, should we really be concerned about the survival of panda bears? Or is it all too interconnected to leave them out of the formula?

Further food-for-thought, this article shares the complexities of the prohibition of trade and saving wildlife:
http://www.economist.com/displaystory.cfm?story_id=10807694

March 19, 2008 | 10:39 AM Comments  0 comments

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