Saturday, December 17, 2011

Captive lives


Today I went on a walk inside the National Zoological Park in New Delhi with the hope of getting some good images. However mid way through my sojourn, a totally strange and novel sadness took over me. I was feeling low and eventually moved to guilt by my being there this afternoon.

The purpose of a zoo park is to showcase animals and birds in a captive set up. These animals are captured from their natural habitats (significantly different from Delhi in most cases in terms of weather and seasons) and brought down here for millions of people to see (some over many decades) and have a merry time. I was taken aback by this human tendency to be totally apathetic about these animals' existense in captivity as a mere peice of show time items. Their life of freedom in their natural habitats have been messed up with no remorse. I was saddened by the way the animals went about their daily business of life with sad, sagging faces. I was also upset when I saw a white tiger, which I remember seeing as a kid in the 90s; It was alone then, it is still alone. It has aged and looked it. I am not aware how different these animals might be in their natural habitats. Perhaps happier I think?

My rambling here about this might sound funny to many. However I have always seen this blog as a platform to express my heartfelt opinions and hence shall not be any different this time too.
I am deeply motivated to read up about the policies of zoo park management and the philosophy that goes behind it. I am going to identify people who share similar feelings and support this cause of releasing these animals.

4 comments:

Rià said...

So true...Its sad that humans do not treat the animals like other living beings. I believe all the animals should be left to remain in their natural habitat. I don't quite remember the last time i went to a zoo!

Ri said...

I do agree with u on this empathetic emotion of yours..

Chiraag Krishna said...

I do agree with you. It is a sad truth. The eyes of the animals here tell you many a story. What I mentioned on my photostream was more to do with the aesthetics of the zoo, not the condition of the inmates, which without a doubt is quite pathetic. Take one look at the eyes of the felines and you will be able to instantly gauge which of them were bred in captivity.
P.S: The white tiger is actually not alone... for some reason, they let out only one of them at a time.

Chandrika Shubham said...

A thought provoking post!
Have u ever seen a circus?

The clicks are really good. The hangings with elephants.
Best wishes. :)