#0112 | are you better off

Submitted by Sandro in Ithaca, New York.

Here’s Sandro’s story:

“Zoos make me feel conflicted.

On the one hand, it’s amazing to have a place we can go to and see animals we would never come across in everyday life.  The sight of a giraffe craning its neck up for some leaves or a penguin doing its little waddling, barking dance is humbling and gorgeous.  Although their lives at the zoo are far removed from life in the wild, I know they are taken care of, fed well, and nursed when sick.

On the other hand, it is all so unnatural.  The confined spaces.  The hack attempts at recreating natural habitats.  The crowds of gawking visitors.  The inability to simply go, somewhere, anywhere.

I’m not sure if the ‘pros’ are just ways of validating my own entertainment or if these places are really necessary in the larger picture of extinction and endangerment.”