Sunday at the Zoo

Two years in Shanghai, and only yesterday did we visit the zoo. Rumor had it that the zoo was a depressing relic from when zoos cared more about entertainment than about animal welfare. But friends and family had visited, expressing their pleasant surprise. Popular verdict on the Shanghai Zoo? Apparently, its not so bad.

We assume that these people all visited on a weekday. With people out en masse, all respect for the animals went out the window. The elephants stood in indoor cages only a few times larger than their own bodies, on poop covered floors. People threw candy and garbage at the monkeys, who skillfully caught and ate it all.

But the most egregious we saw was the giraffes. Check this out.
Q: Should these kids be allowed to feed the giraffes at the zoo?

A: Absolutely not. They and all of their neighbors jumped two fences to stand in such close proximity to these gentle giraffes.

Apparently, climbing into wild animal cages is child's play at this zoo.


Being careful not to be horribly negative, many animals did seem well cared for. The zebras had no one in their cages, and only seemed interested in eating the healthy food in their trough. The girls really enjoyed it. They especially loved the wide open spaces of the park. And they wish that they could enjoy all of the carnival games, ice-cream and electric toys being hawked along the paths throughout.

I'm no animal rights activist. My activism comes in other forms. But it made me feel ill to watch people so egregiously endangering these animals, and disobeying the stated rules.

But worse is that where the fault truly lays. Although these animals did not have stellar living conditions, the fact that they lived within the confines of a zoo did not anger me. That the zoo was not willing to protect their animals from ignorant or selfish people did anger me. Moreso because the worst problems would be eliminated by simply increasing staffing. Were a person in a little uniform standing near the giraffe's cage, they could sternly request that people not climb the fence. In a communist country where the government guarantees each of their 1.3 billion people a job; where they employ people to stand on corners with functioning traffic lights and direct pedestrian traffic; in a country where labor is always the cheapest factor; in a country pouring tremendous amounts of money into their economy. In such a place, this inattention is sinful.