Central Zoo

Today I visited the Central Zoo. It is only a 5 minute walk from the office, so I stopped in and grabbed some of my co-workers and we all went together. Even though it is not a very large zoo, they have an impressive assortment of animals. I should clarify when I say it is "not very large," I mean it is about the size of the Tautphaus Park Zoo in Idaho Falls...or smaller. It cost me 500 rupees to enter (about $5 USD), but it cost my friends only 100 rupees to enter. It cost me more because I am a foreigner. That is normal here. I also had to pay more than Bikash to tour the palace. That's just the way things are, there is a price for Nepali people and another price for foreigners. 

It was interesting to see the difference in what animals they chose to keep at the zoo compared to zoos in the U.S. Now that I think about it...I don't think they had a single animal that was native to Americas. They had a few birds from South America, but I think that was it. No eagles. No buffalo, well, they had water buffalo, but you know what I mean. The rest of the animals, like the one-horned rhino, bengal tigers, leopards, and birds were all native to this continent. There were a few species from Australia too. 

Some animals that I found particular amusement at were white lab mice, chipmunks, and guinea pigs. Especially the guinea pigs because they had so many and were clearly just allowing them to breed at will. I'm no guinea pig expert or population statistician, but I feel confident saying that the zoo is going to have a major guinea pig problem within the next few years. They also had lots of the little macaque monkeys that I saw at Swayambhunath. I've heard that many of the monkeys that are now in captivity are rescue animals or were previously injured and brought here for treatment. It just felt silly to see these animals in enclosures after seeing them roaming all over the temple grounds. 

We arrived later in the afternoon, after the elephant rides were closed. However, I was not disappointed to have missed out once I saw the elephant and Niraj explained to me the controversy around her. According to him, there is a petition to release the elephant because she is 75 years old and still being made to offer rides every day. The elephant is also the only elephant at the zoo, which is stressful for them as they are very intelligent, social animals. 

This started a train of thought that I haven't fully resolved yet. The question this brought to my mind is: are zoos good or bad? I acknowledge this is a complicated question, and I would be interested to hear what you have to say. I wanted to visit this zoo to see how it compared to zoos in the U.S. Not just in the species they chose to house, but in the enclosures and condition the animals were kept. What did I find? The enclosures were comparable to many zoos in the U.S. That doesn't mean they were adequate however. There were gaps in security, which following the tragedy at the Cincinnati Zoo, was on the forefront of my mind. There was also lack in "enrichment," or in ways to stimulate the animals and mimic their natural environment. Enclosures were small, some were barren of all vegetation. However, this is nothing that is unique to this zoo. I see the same things at the Tautphaus Park Zoo back home. Which brought me around to asking myself, do I support this? I can say, most resolutely, no. I do not think animals should be removed from their natural habitat to live in captivity in zoos. 

BUT

Zoos are not filled exclusively with wild animals that have been captured and relocated. Zoos also house rescue animals that would otherwise have to be euthanized, exotic animals that people have tried and failed to keep as domestic pets. Zoos also play an important role in education. Then there are the captive breeding programs to try and rescue a species from extinction. If done responsibly, I don't object to this. Is it interfering with the natural order of things? Well, technically yes, but what if humans are the cause of the animals' extinction, then aren't we trying to restore the natural order? This argument goes round and round. 

Are zoos good or bad, right or wrong, ethical or unethical? I'm not convinced an answer exists. I have expressed my opinions and reasoning behind those opinions. You are welcome to disagree with me. I would love to hear what you think about this topic, as long as it is fair and respectful.

I chose not to crop this photo so you can see an example of the security gaps I mentioned. Look to the left of this picture. Also, notice, you are not looking through a fence at this elephant. There is a single bar, about knee height, separating humans and elephant. The elephant is also chained, however, if she were to really want to get out, she could. Granted this elephant has been around people and been trained to offer rides for years, it is still a wild animal. Cool? Yes. Safe? No.