Taken in July of 2016 in Kashmir
On our Great Lakes of Kashmir trek this past summer, one night our campsite was across the creek from a maximum security sheep prison. I kid you not. At all hours of the night, beams of light would cut through our tent as roving guards made their rounds. And there was the occasional shrill whistle when the inmates would get out of line.
Taken at the Mysore Zoo in October of 2013
Sri Chamarajendra Zoological Gardens (i.e. the Mysore Zoo) wins the award for the most clever (and most gruesome) signage at a zoo.
The Stationary Ark by Gerald Durrell
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
If you’re like me, you have mixed feelings about zoos and aquaria. On the one hand, it’s an awe-inspiring experience to see the mighty, ferocious, and odd creatures that don’t make it into one’s backyard (for those who even have yards.) On the other hand, one has to wonder whether the creatures on display are as miserable as one would be in their shoes. (i.e. Figurative shoes. I do know that other animals don’t wear shoes… Except for horses… but I digress.)
In this book, Gerald Durrell examines the question of what makes for a zoo that’s good for the animals as well as for its human visitors. Most of us are sophisticated enough to realize that straight-up anthropomorphization (projecting human thought processes onto animals) isn’t a sound way to get to the bottom of an animal’s experience. Animals seem much more resilient than humans, but they aren’t infinitely tolerant. While one can’t conduct a “zoo resident satisfaction survey,” there are means by which to gain insight into the animal’s state of well-being, including: its health, its appetite, and its sex drive / reproductive success.
Durrell had the experience of opening a zoo, and was himself dismayed by what he saw at many of the zoos he visited. In some cases, they were designed for optimal viewing but didn’t give adequate consideration to the well-being of the animals. However, some zoos genuinely tried to act in the best interest of the animals, but they missed the mark by projecting human thinking onto animals–instead of examining the evidence for what conditions positively (or negatively) impact the animals’ health, appetite, and sex drive.
This short book (less than 150 pages) consists of seven chapters. The first chapter presents the challenges Durrell went through in trying to open a new and different kind of zoo. Chapters 2, 3, 4, and 6, respectively, examine the issues that must be taken into account with regards to enclosures, feeding, mating, and sick animals. Obviously, these chapters don’t cover the entirety of the subject in detail, but rather combine generalities with a few interesting (and often humorous) examples from specific species. Chapter 5 gets into the challenges of keeping records in a zoo that isn’t just about entertainment but is also focused on conservation and education. The last chapter sums up Durrell’s arguments for how Zoos can be of benefit to animal species other than humans.
There are no graphics, notations, or bibliography. It’s not that kind of book, but is rather an extended essay. It does feature both humor and insight in good measure.
I’d recommend this book for those who want to better understand what features of a zoo are good (or bad) for the animals, and how zoos might be restructured to advance their roles in conservation and education.
Once there was a dog and a man.
The dog chased and the human ran.
The dog got leaner, the man fitter.
But sometimes got bit, and being bit got bitter.
Chased, one day, a bone in hand.
The man devised a clever plan.
Raising the club, he flung it aside.
The dog caught its meal in mid-stride.
From that day on man carried meat.
To offer dog a tasty treat.
Dog, it seems, had trained its master.
No more racing to get faster.
Thirty thousand years then past.
Pavlov trained at dog at last.
Humans are slow, but can learn.
As the world, in due time, turns.
Taken in May of 2016 in Zambia
I took the photo above at Kalimba Reptile Park near Lusaka. In case, landscapes are too boring for you, here’s an alternate pic of a toothy crocodile.
Taken in March of 2015 at Savandurga
Taken in May of 2016 in Zambia
Taken in April of 2016 in Amritsar
Tiger Riding for Beginners 