Wild Animals in Captivity
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By Debra Lau Whelan -- School Library Journal, 7/23/2008 2:10:00 PM
Zoos seem to be a part of most kids’ lives. But Rob Laidlaw’s book Wild Animals in Captivity (Fitzhenry & Whiteside) uncovers the bleak conditions at so many zoos around the world and forces readers to ask whether they should be there at all.
What a wonderful subject for kids. What response have you gotten from your book?
The response from both children and adults has been wonderful. They understand the concepts and appreciate the fact that they are left to formulate their own opinions about the appropriateness of keeping wild animals in captivity. My hope is that children who read it will not just accept as fact what proponents of wildlife in captivity say, but that they start to ask questions about what animals experience, how they are used, and whether that use is morally acceptable. I also hope that that process extends into other areas and starts a process of critical thinking regarding the place of animals in our own lives and our society.
What are some of worst the zoos you've seen?
In my visits to zoos around the world, I have encountered many awful situations. Here in Canada, I remember the Woolastook Zoo that kept most of its animals in chainlink floored cages raised up off the ground. The animals had difficulty walking on the wire mesh and were suffering terribly as a result. At Taman Safari Indonesia, I saw two polar bears lying on their sides in a tiny concrete pen in the blistering heat. They were in poor condition with green algae growing in their fur and they panted incessantly because they had no relief from the heat. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for those bears. I also can’t imagine what life must be like for captive whales or dolphins in almost any captive situation. Able to swim hundreds or even thousands of miles in the ocean, they are confined in the tiniest of spaces where they are unable to do almost anything they would do in the wild. Throughout the world, I have alarmingly encountered similar kinds of conditions endured by wild animals in captivity.
Some may argue that zoos are such a huge part of so many kids’ lives, and for many it’s the only chance they’ll ever get to see wild animals.
Zoos are primarily entertainment-based, cultural institutions that have increasingly focused their marketing efforts toward children—and that is precisely why they are a part of the lives of so many kids. The notion that zoos present the only opportunity children have to see wild animals may have had some validity in Victorian times, but that is no longer the case. Menagerie-style public zoos started in the 19th century at a time when most modern methods of communication didn’t exist. There were no film or television documentaries, Internet sites, and few accessible parks and reserves. Even printed publications were limited and not widely available. We live in a vastly different world today and opportunities to see wild animals abound. There is even a popular group of animals that every child knows a lot about and they have never been kept in a zoo. Those animals are the dinosaurs.
Menagerie-style zoos may have had their place in the past, but they should be relegated to the past. The zoo concept, with its heavy focus on entertainment, needs to be reevaluated and reconsidered. Zoos need to move out of the past by evolving, both philosophically and operationally, into something radically different and beneficial.
My three-year-old daughter became upset when I explained the horrible conditions some zoo animals live in. What do I tell her next month when I accompany her on a school trip to the Central Park zoo?
Teaching kindness, compassion, and respect for life can begin at any age. Young children are often able to grasp concepts such as needing space to move, freedom to act naturally, and being with family, while older children can understand some of the more subtle complexities of life in captivity.
Ideally though, it is best to introduce children to wildlife in the wild before they ever visit a zoo. This can be accomplished by a visit to a neighborhood park or even through an age-appropriate television or film documentary. Doing so provides context and facilitates critical thinking processes that allow young people to develop informed opinions.
For children already involved in visits to a zoo, I encourage them to think about what life would be like if they were in the animal’s place and to ask questions about how they think an animal’s life could be improved. That process can even occur after a zoo visit by doing some basic research into the natural lifestyles of the animals the children observed during their zoo visit and comparing them to what the animal can do in captivity. Children very quickly understand the issues and decide for themselves what is or isn’t acceptable.
You mention some of the best zoos in your book. Why aren’t there more of them?
What some of the best captive facilities have is common is that they put the needs of the animals as their highest priority. The Elephant Sanctuary in Tennessee stands out in my mind as one facility that clearly puts the needs of the animals first. By providing their elephants, retired from zoos and circuses, with hundreds and hundreds of acres of fields and forest, the elephants are able to spend each day moving and feeding in conditions that are orders of magnitude more complex than almost any zoo anywhere. They are allowed to do what elephants do. The Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum is another facility that stands out for different reasons. Remarkably well integrated into the surrounding desert environment, this zoo, which is also part botanical garden and part museum, provides a rich and stimulating visitor experience unlike almost any other zoo. Their emphasis is on teaching visitors about the desert world, and I think they accomplish that goal quite well.
Most zoos are heavily focused on visitor numbers and revenue generation. That focus has to be abandoned for zoo conditions to change. Fewer animals and better conditions would be a huge leap forward but that may mean fewer visitors and lower overall revenues. Unfortunately, that is something that many in the zoo world seem unwilling to embrace.
What are some steps that can be taken to make sure zoo animals live and behave as they would in the wild?
The most important step that children or adults can take to improve the lives of wild animals in captivity is to become informed by learning more about their natural lifestyles and then using that information to ask questions about why animals are kept the way they are in the zoo. Most captive animals are kept in completely artificial spaces that are thousands or, in some cases, millions of times smaller than the spaces they inhabit in the wild. Their ability to act naturally is severely restricted or, in some cases, eliminated. Every animal should be able to engage in a full range of normal movements and behaviors. If they are unable to do that in a zoo exhibit, then their captivity should be questioned.
How did you get involved in this subject?
Since my early childhood I have been fascinated by nature, so I voraciously consumed every book about animals, conservation, and the environment that I could find. Early on, I realized that when animal interests came up against human interests, no matter how trivial those human interests were, the animals always lost out. I thought that was wrong and that was what turned me into an advocate. Years later, in 1984, I visited a rather horrific zoo in Ontario. I thought this was an example of human interests (a bit of money) trumping the needs of the animals. I discovered there were no laws governing the treatment of animals in zoos and no one was willing to help, so I decided to do something on my own. I never imagined that all these years later that I would be part of a growing animal protection movement around the world.
For many years, I’ve read zoo marketing materials, often aimed at children, extolling the virtues of zoos. I have also been contacted by a multitude of children and parents who have concerns about the keeping of wildlife in captivity and with school visits to zoos. I felt it was time for an informed, children-oriented response to the propaganda disseminated by so many zoos, so that’s why I wrote Wild Animals in Captivity.
