I have a lot of trouble remembering to blog for some reason. Grace Spring

I know this is absurdly late and I probably won't receive credit, but I really wanted to write about my experience at the Philadelphia zoo several weeks ago. It affected me more deeply that I thought it would and its been on my mind often. I had to go in order to complete an assignment for my biological anthropology class and it was my first time visiting a zoo in years. I have come a long way in learning about animal rights/welfare since then and have certainly adopted stronger, more defined principles in the last few years when it comes to the correct treatment of animals. I was really apprehensive about going because I had no idea how I would react, but part of me was also quite curious.

Thankfully it was a cold, windy day so there were few people there and entire zoo was pretty quiet. During the summer, I can imagine it becomes quite the spectacle - everything from popcorn to face painting to balloon rides, you name it. If it draws in the crowds, the zoo PR people have probably already thought of it.

I still found myself grabbing for my headphones not a minute after entering the DODGE endangered species building. The young children running up to the cages screaming with joy and making trivial comments about the animals like "he's so cute" and "wow look at him", made my stomach turn.

By far the most difficult part of the day was visiting the gorilla cage. It was more like an aquarium really, with glass walls and a linoleum bottom, supposedly modeled after an 'abandoned timber mill'. ugh. As it was too cold to be out in their slightly larger outdoor enclosure, they were being held inside for god knows how many days. The huge male was lying on the ground on his stomach, head in his hands, blank eyes staring no where. He was only a few feet from me, so I just sat there watching him for nearly an hour. He did not once make eye contact with me.

In the time I was observing him, I counted nearly a dozen people, children included, who made comments along the lines of , "he looks really sad", "what do you think is wrong with him", etc. Even children were able to connect with this creature and empathize with him and that really struck me. He did look sad. It was difficult for me to watch him lie there, no drives, no reason to do anything other than stare.

I will be the first to admit that I typically suffer from season affective disorder simply because its cold and ugly outside. But at least I can GO outside. If I were in a fishbowl like that, unable to leave, while being stared at constantly, I would probably tune out of my environment just like the male gorilla.

The natural behaviors of the animals I saw in the zoo (many of the larger ones at least) were not expressed or displayed in a normal way. In an unnatural environment, it only makes sense that the animals will be unable to act as they normally would in the wild. Their main drives in life, food, mating, and social heirarchy, are stripped away from them in many cases. There is no opportunity to hunt, no freedom to search for a mate, and typically not a large enough population of the species to foster natural social dynamics.

I will not be going back to the zoo. I can't take it.