My french roommate and I went to San Diego this weekend. It was incredible. Not only did I get to see a real, live panda--see below--but we looked at the beautiful houses on Coronado. What I would do to live in one of those houses! And dinner was quite surprising.
The panda was kind of sad... she was pacing back and forth. Zoos are sad. I love to look at animals, but I always feel bad. There are a bunch of people gawking at animals, animals which can no longer survive in the wild, and cooing about how exotic and beautiful, blah blah blah they are. Meanwhile, the animals pace back and forth out of boredom and lack of space... the poor birds! Netted in, can't even see the sky without an obstruction. Lulu said they don't know any better. It's still sad.
Like any responsible insitituion, however, the San Diego Zoo did use their social positioning to push some conciousness-raising. Near the polar bears, there were 3-d models depicting how the ice caps have receeded in the past 50 years. There were huge pieces showing graphs of CO2 emmissions, glass display cases showing a cross-section of dirt as it has changed in the past 2000 years (ending with a lot of plastic packing peanuts and twinkie wrappers), and lots of fossils showing animals that have gone extinct. I felt guilty. More effective still, would be some suggestions of what I can do to help. I know I should recycle. But why do we make so much plastic but only recycle types 1 & 2 in most places? The ice caps are melting. Okay. What should I do, San Diego Zoo? I would love some guidance. Thanks.
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