I haven't read Zoo Nebraska yet, which is largely attributable to the fact that I only heard about it earlier today. Upon reading about it, all I could think was... how typical. Well-meaning but ill-informed person takes in a lot of exotic animals that he ends up being ill-suited to take care of. Tragedy ensues. The same could have been written about, say, the Zanesville massacre in Ohio, or several other fiascoes. This one happens to focus on chimpanzees instead of big cats and bears.
The author of this work, Carson Vaughan, had an almost front seat view of the tragedy, which took place in his home town. It seems to have taken its effect on him - in the attached interview, he mentions that he ended up thinking "zoos of kind aren't great." I have a hard time believing that this was anything other than a reaction to growing up amidst the events of Zoo Nebraska.
That's one thing that stories like this always bring to the forefront, and which always drives me crazy. No matter what great things zoos and aquariums do, whether for the conservation of species and ecosystems to the rescue of individual animals, we always seem to be held to the lowest common denominator.
In the case of Zoo Nebraska, that denominator seems pretty low indeed.
Photo courtesy of Carson Vaughan
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