Tigers

On a recent trip to the Lincoln Park Zoo, I saw a child attack a wall. He ran up to an interpretive display about the threatened extinction of tigers, complete with cartoons of hunters and loggers, and began slapping it, yelling, "Take this, and this, and this! This is what you get for hunting tigers!" I didn't want to embarrass him, so I tried my best to hide my smile, but it was hard. He was refreshingly different from the hordes of delinquents who hit only glass barriers, in order to frighten the animals into movement, that I couldn't contain my excitement.

It can be upsetting to watch the larger or smarter members of a zoo's collection pacing, as they often do, the lengths of their inadequate enclosures, for the benefit of uninterested and misinformed guests. Guests who taunt the animals, or worse, harm them. (The Zoo has a one-armed Gibbon. He injured the other arm reaching for something thrown by a visitor. Happily, he adapted well, and is still quite an acrobat.)

Looking at unhappy and injured animals shakes my confidence in zoos, but I remind myself of the breeding programs that zoos are involved in, and the dozens of species that would no longer exist if it weren't for the populations sustained in captivity. But, though monumental and vital achievements, the successes often occur in remote areas and, therefore, are emotionally remote as well. This child's display was an immediate and gratifying illustration of the power of zoos.

I know, it was just some kid hitting a piece of plastic. The world won't change, right? But if the feeling got into him deeply enough, it won't leave him. I still remember the anger I felt after attending two seminars at the Bronx Zoo, one about wolves, the other about tigers, when I was about the same age. Oh sure, he may not become the Cousteau of the cats—I didn't—but he may make different choices in his everyday life than he would have otherwise—I do. And if enough children get turned on by powerful, if pacing, predators, it might actually make a difference. If we could only explain that to the caged cats, they might feel better about their situation.


And oh yeah, Go Detroit!