Animals behind glass

[Tobi]

I can't help not liking this:

https(colon)(double slash)youtube.com/watch?v=WsVXPdnNkRY

 What do you think?

Animals behind glass. What I see is they are being teased and demeaned. These are top predators, and of course will have strong killing and hunting instincts. Somehow to make a sideshow of them feels wrong. Also (seeing that Gorilla towards the end of the video) -I could immediately see that he has nowhere to go in that enclosure where he doesn't have people staring at him, pointing at him, and irritating him, probably all day long.

[Catherine]

As usual I can't get over how stupid the human behavior was. People left their babies in front of predators who saw them as prey and didn't move the child.
I can't believe anyone let their child act aggressively towards a male gorilla. No wonder he reacted. She challenged him.

Some of those pens didn't give the animals any privacy. The set ups should always give the animals places where they can get away from humans. The humans behaved badly. Maybe zoos will have to rethink their exhibits so that humans can't actually approach the glass. Perhaps the zoos need more volunteers to watch the big exhibits and stop people from acting that way.

I recognize one of the tiger videos as being from Toronto. Some idiot climbed over a railing and jumped down to ground level right by the wire of a tiger pen. The tiger was right there being territorial. There are all kinds of signs saying stay on the bridge. 
If people obey the signs they can't get close enough to the tigers to disturb them.

You are right it isn't funny to see animals acting that way. Some of the enclosures need work to make them more comfortable for the animals. More importantly they will have to put up more fences to keep the people back so the can't bother the animals. 
Humans behave very badly in the presence of gorillas and tigers and animals like that. Of course a lot of people behave very badly, I should know, I ride the subway with them and they are no better there.

[LPC]

Tobi, I hope that you don't mind: I have edited the link address for the video so its producer doesn't get link credit on Google. The video is highly commercial, starting with ads and pushing for subscribers - in order to make money. I can't bear the thought of the maker of that video making lots of money from its video showing the near-abuse of animals. S/he doesn't deserve a link, although I'm glad that you posted about it on this forum. You draw attention to an important issue.

Poor animals, being gawped at all day and having to suffer the stupid behaviour of badly behaving humans. Zoos at their worst.

[Tobi]

Good thinking LPC! I didn't actually think of that. Of course I don't mind you editing the link.

Yes the video/channel is highly commercial, and that amounts to a nuisance for anyone watching, I would imagine. I could hardly understand one word that man was saying anyway.

It is important to have privacy areas for animals in zoos. Can people not understand....if crowds continually passed their houses, gawping and staring in and tapping on the windows, it would drive them bats in the end! The animals feel the same. They don't always feel ike interacting with the public. I could see that Gorilla's frustration and helplessness. He was trying to fight for his rights and nobody understood. Some human just said "He's hyper-active."

[Catherine]

Quote:Tobi, I hope that you don't mind: I have edited the link address for the video so its producer doesn't get link credit on Google. The video is highly commercial, starting with ads and pushing for subscribers - in order to make money. I can't bear the thought of the maker of that video making lots of money from its video showing the near-abuse of animals. S/he doesn't deserve a link, although I'm glad that you posted about it on this forum. You draw attention to an important issue.

LPC, I am so glad you ae able to do that. I never thought about the guy getting credit for the link. I don't think he deserves it. His video is actually making fun of the animals.

This is the problem of human animal interactions anywhere. It is not just zoos. If people find a birds nest in the wild they will harass the birds until they end up killing them. They get their hands on a baby dolphin they will pass it around until they kill it. 
Zoos struggle with how to keep the animals safe from the public. Most of the bars are not there for the animals. They use creative landscaping and people will climb over it. People ignore signs, pound on glass and even jump into pens. I stopped girls picking up stones to throw at baby geese at the Toronto Zoo. 

The gorillas have the worst problem. People make a point of challenging them. You can see how frustrated the gorillas are. The idea of glass like that was to allow people to see the animals close. If you are respectful there is no problem. I have sat by the glass next to an orangutan and she put her baby next to the glass so he was between us and we were like a couple of friends sharing some time together. We were a couple of friends sharing time together.

I have a picture. I will post it when I find it.

Zoos are going to have to find ways to protect their animals from the public. If I had been there I would have asked people to move or I would have called for help from a keeper. It is never right to taunt an animal. Taunting an animal in an enclosure is pathetic behavior on the part of the human. We obviously are not the superior species.

[Tobi]

(09-03-2017, 04:29 AM)Catherine Wrote: I have sat by the glass next to an orangutan and she put her baby next to the glass so he was between us and we were like a couple of friends sharing some time together. We were a couple of friends sharing time together.

I have a picture. I will post it when I find it.

Oh that is so beautiful. I would really like to see that picture, Catherine.

It is obviously not the glass which is the problem. It is the minds of those looking through it.
Add to that respect for the animals' need for privacy should they choose it.

[Catherine]

Zoos set up enclosures with glass so there could be meaningful, respectful encounters with the animals. Sometimes that does happen. Sadly all to often idiots harass and taunt the animals.

The worst is the gorilla enclosures. People behave very badly in front of the gorillas. I am embarrassed that the gorillas would think I am the same species. Gorillas are smart and they can tell the difference between the idiot people and the good people. I was standing at the glass by the gorillas and there was an idiot beside me acting up. Charles, the silverback male, walked up to the glass and looked at me and I swear he gave a little nod to me(I knew what was coming next). Charles hit the glass so hard the guy fell over backwards. Charles and I stood there looking at each other respectfully and then Charles went back to his usual napping place.
Meaningful encounters are possible.

When the Orangutan female, Puppe, lost her mate I went out there as soon as I could. I went straight to the orangutans and right up to the glass. She saw me from across the enclosure and came right over. She put her forehead against the glass and I put my forehead against the glass and we just stood there like that for a while. She understood that I was telling her how sorry I was for her loss. Sometimes words are not needed.



A friend took this picture

[LPC]

Telepathy and empathy at its best. Very touching photo.

[Tobi]

That's a lovely moving picture. She would feel your care and love. Thank you for posting that. It's beautiful.

[Catherine]

Puppe is in her fifties and  we are a couple of old girls together. In the winter when the zoo is quiet I have sat beside her and just enjoyed her company. This is what glass enclosures were supposed to do. Sadly most people are not mature and sensitive enough to relate to animals and care about them. I consider Puppe to be a beautiful friend. I couldn't have bonded if we couldn't have been so close with just the glass between us.