I usually don't comment on news events in this blog, the major reason being that I just don't get that into the news. For one, I think it's twisted and we, as a whole, are lead to believe what they want us to believe. And for two, I find most of it boring. Is that shallow? Maybe.
But this tiger story coming out of the San Francisco zoo has me pretty upset.
Was the attack provoked? No one knows for sure, but they stated that there was no way out of the cage through a door, and they are saying the tiger must have climbed or leaped out of the enclosure, which some say would be close to impossible. In order for that tiger to get out, I'm betting she had to be pretty pissed off and irritated. And on top of that, it was 3 men in their teens/early 20s that were attacked. I'm sorry to stereotype, but I can't picture 3 men going to the zoo together to appreciate the wildlife and learn about the wonders of nature. But I can totally picture them going because they're bored, had nothing better to do that day, decided to smoke a joint and then proceeded to fuck with a tiger? If that's the case, they got what was coming to them.
I am stretching a bit far with that scenario, but really... Is is that hard to imagine that's how it went down?
The first question I asked, outloud, when I saw the story on CNN was this : "This is a ZOO, with wild and dangerous animals living in it. The general public can walk freely in this place with these wild animals and the zoo makes money from it. Are the zoo's officials/owners/regulators not prepared for a worst case scenario? Are they not equipped with say... Oh, I don't know a TRANQUILIZER GUN? Did it have to come down to the city police shooting an endangered animal down with hand guns when all the tiger was doing was acting like a TIGER?" (This is not my exact quote, I was ranting as you can tell by my CAPS, but I was riled up over it all)
So here we are with these gorgeous animals in captivity for our own amusement, and when they act like the animals they are, they are killed? I just don't get it.
Obviously, the tiger had to be stopped. But the way they stopped her was uncalled for and irresponsible on the zoo's part.
I will be the first to admit that I like the zoo. I've been fascinated with animals since I was a toddler and well-ran zoos are amazing places to see these animals in person and learn to appreciate them.
But... I'm torn. I remember the last time I went to the Brookfield Zoo in Chicago, there was a black panther in fairly small cage. I wouldn't even call it a habitat or enclosure. I think they had just gotten the panther to the zoo and he was waiting for his permanent home or something like that. Either way, he was extremely unhappy. He was pacing back and forth, stalking back and forth, and all I could think was how beautiful he was, how majestic, and how he most definitely did not belong in a cage. He looked right at me, I'm pretty sure, and I can't explain the connection I felt to the cat (call me crazy, maybe I am) but I teared up standing there, and left the zoo soon after.
I haven't been to a zoo since, and I'm torn on whether I'll ever go again. After this story about the tiger, I just don't know.
What do you guys think?