Firstly I’m not an animal lover per se. And I HATE going to the zoo. Mainly, because over the years while my children have shown a keen interest in the gates at the various enclosures and investigated how to get into them, they've shown very little interest in the animals themselves. So it is with this context in mind I ask you to read this post.
Years ago when I watched Jurassic Park, I was awed at the idea of a tour that showed you wondrous sights, all in a calm, air conditioned environment. Of course, as you know, it didn’t pan out that way at all. The dinos escaped and wreaked havoc and humans left chastened and having learned an important lesson.
Doing our recent tour at the Bali Safari and Marine Park I was struck with the uncanny parallels, sans dinosaurs of course. The park itself is an awesome creation. Whoever thought it out is a genius. The layout is superb as are the attractions. Lunching with lions? Hanging with elephants?
It’s every child (and many adults, dream)
But I had moments of distinct dis-ease with the park.
Firstly was when I snuggled with a baby orangutan. Adorable and fluffy, it was magical to hold this tiny, albeit insanely hairy creature in my arms and watch as it playfully tried to remove my daughter’s hair band.
But there was a niggling thought in the back of my mind that, as we left and a long queue snaked behind me all eager to cuddle this tiny wonder; that this was NOT what it should be doing.
In fact, a couple we chatted to had just come from Borneo working with rescued orangutans. Not once had they had any physical contact with them there.
It kind of begged the question, why were we all allowed to here?
I haven’t posted photos of this particular interaction for that reason.
Later I was even more concerned when my son and Husband got to stroke a tiger. I have absolutely NO DOUBT in my mind this tiger was drugged. He lay sedate and seemingly oblivious to the eager hoardes of people waiting to have their photo taken with him. He only roused briefly when another tourist asked the staff if they could get the tiger to: “Put his head up.”
A staff member immediately placed his clipboard directly above the tiger’s head and he lifted it immediately presumably in defence. As Husband said, even in a drugged state most people would try to defend themselves, albeit feebly.
I asked several staff members how they got the tiger to sit so quietly. Their English dried up immediately at the question, or I was eyeballed with deep suspicion. One man even said to me: “You ask strange question.”
Yes I do that sometimes.
That said,
The bus tour of the safari park was fantastic and we saw animals in “enclosures” all specifically adapted to the animal’s specific wants and needs. Many of the animals had been rescued and were being rehabilitated or part of breeding programmers to ensure their species survival. I thought this was great. Seeing a hippo “pop up” just beside our bus is not an experience I will forget anytime soon.
The trip left me wondering. The work being done here is great. My children and I had access to animals in a way that simply isn’t possible at our local zoo. But at what price?
Am I over-reacting with my response here?
