Recent events at the Cincinnati Zoo have been bombarding our PE newsfeeds lately and while I am pleased by the outpouring of emotion all over social media from concerned people, the rampant attacks and finger pointing is also driving me nuts. So I offer some perspective here in an effort to help make sense of a tragic incident for our friends and followers who may be wondering what to think, and to provide some useful tips for the next time you visit a zoo…
First, it's important to recognize that this was a terrible tragedy and the Cincinnati Zoo Staff/Response Team faced an incredibly difficult decision.
As far as I am aware, they followed their protocol to protect the child. I think Jeff Corwin has done a great job of discussing the facts we know as outside observers and offers some important points to consider (unlike Jack Hanna who made several problematic statements). Zoos have come a long way since the Cincinnati Zoo was first established in the 1930s, and often AZA accredited zoos do many wonderful things to support conservation efforts for animals in the wild, but make no mistake about it: zoos are prisons for the animals that they house. And they house those animals for our entertainment.
Many people are throwing blame and calling for accountability from the zoo and particularly the parents (quite viciously attacking the mother of the child in their commentary, sadly). I’m not blaming either of them. They are part of a much larger issue that plagues all of us, particularly each and every one of us who frequent zoos here in North America, and that is: in our collective culture, we believe that human lives are more valuable than other animals.
That’s why zoos exist. That’s why zoo enclosures have open area moats separating the visitors from the animals. That’s why the vast majority of people frequenting zoos wreak havoc as soon as they enter running from one area to the next calling to the animals, throwing things into enclosures, and banging on glass windows.
Perhaps at this point you might be thinking: “True, but I’ve never done any of those things, so this doesn’t apply to me." But sadly, we’ve all seen it happen and rarely do we tell people doing it to stop taunting the animals. Why not? Probably because, other than such behaviour annoying you, you might not have been able to think of a good reason to give for why they should stop such rude behaviour. Plus realistically, it simply happens so frequently, and so relentlessly, that the madness of such hyper activity at the zoo simply wears everyone out, including you. So no one speaks up.
It wears out the animals too. And remember they are trapped.
Believing that human lives are more valuable than animals creates a destructive sequence of thoughts and behaviours in our every day lives, and here’s why:
- First, it allows us to trap other animals and put them on display.
- Second, it allows us to rank the value of other animal species so that it appears to us to be a tragic loss when an endangered species’ life is taken but it’s not quite such a big deal when that pesky raccoon or deer or mouse in the house is hunted, trapped, and killed in our own backyards.
- And finally, believing human lives to be more valuable than others sets up the clear and basic assumption that in any interaction with an animal no matter how harmless or potentially dangerous the situation may be, we perceive that ultimately there is always an underlying choice to be made between one life or the other.
This is a very dangerous way to live, my friends, because it is entirely based on fear and fear is an instinctive response - in our modern world it is often irrational.
People fear gorillas and consider them to be dangerous beasts. This, gorillas most certainly are NOT. But we can’t expect every person to know the intimate details of gorilla lives, as well as the intimate lives and behaviours of all the animals that we gawk at in zoos while running from enclosure to enclosure. So what can we do? Zoos exist. People are excited to see animals. And many of us are slow to relinquish our ideas of human superiority.
What I consider to be the most valuable lesson to come out of Harambe's untimely death is simply this: WE ALL NEED TO BE MORE CONSIDERATE OF OTHERS (no matter who or what they are). And that’s a very simple and basic lesson to teach our youth. It’s also one of the most important things they can learn because when we are more considerate of others, we realize we are all more alike than we are different and this dissipates fear.
Teach your children to respect animals by appreciating the similarities and respecting the differences among us. Kids get it, and they think it’s cool. Kids can understand very easily, very early on, that other animals are valuable and interesting creatures who live interesting and different lives than humans. Elementary, high-school, and university students can all get this too, it’s not just for the young tots.
Then when you visit zoos, treat the animals with respect.
Tell your kids, explain it clearly and honestly to help them understand: these animals are trapped here, they may be well cared for but they cannot leave this space, and, though it is not ideal, it is a GREAT PRIVELEDGE to be in their presence in this space. It should not be taken lightly; look at how they move and rest and eat and breathe like us. Look at where they are sitting in their space or the objects they are interacting with. Ask your kids, what do you think the animal may be thinking about right now? Ask your children, what do they notice that is similar and different from one animal to the next – How is the gorilla like us? How is it different from the lion? How is the lion like us? What is the same? What is different?
Teach them to see themselves reflected in another.
Embrace the opportunity to show them how to be nice to others by teaching children to respect other animals for their power and their grace. We do not need to fear them. We are more alike than we are different.
Since zoos do exist, preferably they should be designed and created to protect their residents from the "intruders" who come to see them. But right now, they are not. So it’s important to remember, as zoo visitors, yes - all animals have instincts and behavioural patterns, but these animals also know nothing of the “outside world”. They are confined to the limits of the enclosures that house them, for most of them those enclosures are all they have ever known, and those enclosures are ultimately designed not to protect them from you, but to ensure YOU can get a good view of them at a distance presumed to be safe enough for you (the rational thinker) not to have contact with them. The assumption here is that "common sense" in humans will prevent people from crossing the line that separates 'man from beast'.
When we believe a human life to be more valuable than the animal on display, designing zoo enclosures thinking of humans before others would be a reasonable assumption. But we all know humans to be quite foolish creatures; we have proven that repeatedly on many occasions.
Over the past 3 decades, zoos have made major strides in altering their enclosures to be more enriching for the animals they confine. I hope Harambe’s death will force zoo administrators across the globe to reconsider the design of their enclosures once again - using this tragedy as motivation to ensure, not only are the animals they confine more stimulated in their environments for their overall health and wellbeing, but also that they are well protected from the threats they face from the one species that is disturbing and dictating the facets of their lives both in the wild and in captivity.
Let’s not forget that it is this one species that is relentlessly destroying their natural habitats, their populations, and confining them to captivity in the first place, all for its own gain and entertainment – all actions resulting from superiority thinking.
If you take one message away from this piece, please let it be this: the decision was flawed from the start and inevitable. It never was between Harambe or the child. The only policy that should have been in place is: how do we ensure BOTH valuable lives come out of this situation alive and safe.
We are all valuable.
We are all a part of this world.
We are all connected.
We must learn, as a rational – thinking, feeling species – to be more considerate of others, enabling us to focus on the similarities and accept the differences in order to share our space, without fear, in peace.
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The next time you visit a zoo, please be respectful of the animals. Treat them as you would like to be treated. You can come and go from this space freely. They cannot.
*Photo of a Western Lowland Gorilla Copyright 2009 courtesy of Ray Prime.
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