Guest Editorial: Conversations with a Zoo-Hater, by Austin Owens

A few days ago I was in the middle of my PM feeding routine, when I overheard a conversation in front of the cougars that I take care of. A middle aged woman was having a discussion with her daughter outlining how bad zoos are, and how we probably don't feed our animals enough, and how the cougars seemed bored, and would be better off if we released them back into the wild.

I had heard of these mythical zoo-hating vistors, but never actually met one, so I decided to go talk to them.

She asked me why they were pacing at the end of the day, assuming it was because all zoos mistreat their animals. I explained that they knew it was almost feeding time, and they are a bit impatient once 3:00 rolls around; she asked me how much they ate, I told her. I told her how often they ate. I told her about their natural history, their daily enrichment, their individual personalities, the hierarchy of their group, along with how long we have had them under our care, answered a slew of other negatively angled questions with actual care routines and reasons for them, and then she asked me why we don't just release them into the wild.

I told her that the numbers of the species are in sharp decline, and we received these particular individuals from fish and wildlife when they were just a few months old (several years ago). If we were to release these animals, they would almost certainly die within a year, because they have never had to fend for themselves/hunt/fight off competitors/live through a winter alone. Blah blah blah, pretty regular answer.

She just kind of looked at the cats for a while after that.

I finished by reminding her of what the actual purpose of a zoo is; facilitating the maintenance and preservation of species that have quickly decreasing numbers. Zoos provide a safe haven for animals that if left in the wild would be hunted for sport, skin, horn, or gland. I reminded her that many of the species that our zoo has are critically endangered/extinct in the wild, and by keeping them under our care, we ensure that their entire species isn't wiped off the face of the planet.

She said she'd never thought of that.

She came back the next day, I saw her at the same time, at the same place, and she seemed really excited about the zoo, and she was telling another set of visitors the same things I told her the day before.

I love my job, and I love knowing that I made a difference in the way that at least one person thinks about what we do.

TL;DR

Woman hated zoos. Woman no longer hates zoos.