Photo: Barry Kent MacKay/Born Free USA
In last week’s blog, I talked about the brand new polar bear exhibit at the zoo in Buffalo, New York, which I visited in early December. But, of course, I toured the entire zoo in company with Zoocheck’s Rob Laidlaw, who has seen more zoos by far than the vast majority of people in the zoo industry. “Wait until you see the gorilla exhibit,” he said.[teaserbreak]
Many zoo animals are kept in two separate quarters: the part that is on public display and the part that is often (not always) hidden from view. This is typically where the animals are kept in winter, to give birth, to receive medical treatment, or simply to be held while the public display area can be cleaned or otherwise maintained.
And so, there were none of the zoo’s five western lowland gorillas in the display area, which was being cleaned by two workers with hoses, pails, and scrub brushes. It was called a “rain forest,” but nothing could be less like a rain forest. It was essentially a pit, made of fake rock, with a skylight overhead. Though tall, it was small—possibly less square footage than one floor of my house—with places for the animals to climb on the faux, unchanging rock.
Photo: Barry Kent MacKay/Born Free USA
And, nowhere in this bleak cell could any animal touch any living plant. That is not something immediately obvious to onlookers, as there is a fringe of growing, tropical-looking plants around the exhibit. But, between the plants and the area to which the gorillas have access are discreetly-strung “hot wires” which, if touched, convey a strong shock. It’s as if to say, “Naughty gorilla: look, but do not touch!” On the floor of the cell was a spray of dead leaves, which I dutifully photographed: the only plants the gorillas could touch.
In a way, I was glad the gorillas, themselves, were absent. I didn’t have to look them in the eye and look away, shamed by my inability to convince my own kind to have more compassion, more care, and more respect for these fellow primates (and for all of the wondrous creatures who struggle to cohabit this planet). But, I try; here at Born Free USA, we all do. My only New Year’s resolution is one I will keep… and that is to try harder.
Keep wildlife in the wild,
Barry