The Memphis Zoo and I have an uneasy relationship simply because while I love any kind of nature/zoological exhibits, it is not going to be making any top ten lists in the near future. I think it has too much concrete and not enough space for the big beasts. Despite these shortcomings, they do a good job within their limits.
They are engaged in Panda research.They do educational programs with children and have the standard zoo programs such as Keeper Chats. Recently, the Memphis Zoo
discovered that Ya Ya is pregnant which will be a coup for them if a healthy baby actually arrives.
The Memphis Zoo has a great deal for working families on a tight budget: on Tuesday afternoons from two in the afternoon until closing at six admissions is free. I usually prefer to go right when it opens in the morning or in the cool weather because Memphians think it is winter when the thermometer hits anything below 50 degrees. I question whether the great deal for families translates into a great deal for the animals who are subject to larger crowds. However, a surprising number of them were either curious or indifferent. I regret to say that while I am not a wild animals behaviorist, the reality of the animals is that they don't know anything different. That is probably the basis for the arguments many activists use for explaining why the traditional notion of a zoo should be eliminated. Despite the fact that I am not seeing animals in their natural state, the likelihood that I will be seeing a tiger in the wild in my lifetime is pretty much non-existent.
It is a true mark of my complete disconnect from popular culture that I was a bit shocked by the lack of "zoo etiquette", displayed by both adults and children when viewing the animals. To my dismay, I heard several kids express boredom and urge their parents to "keep moving" to the next exhibit. I still get excited when I see pretty birds at my feeder. I still remember my "accidental encounter" with a wolf in the wild while doing some remote camping in Northern Ontario as a child. The cabin we went to was so remote we had to get dropped off by a train in the middle of a clearing and flag it down again a few days later when we wanted to go back to civilization. I just happened to be playing by the edge of the forest, in full view of my mother on the porch of the hunting cabin, when a wolf stepped out. He wasn't close enough to touch, but proximal enough to freak my mother out. I stared at the wolf and the wolf stared at me.It probably lasted only few seconds but it is the only event I remember clearly from our camping trip. For many of the kids seeing an animal at the zoo was just not an impressive experience. That worries me because many zoos justify themselves by being able to introduce young folks to wild animals and to plant the seeds of wonder and respect.
There were also flagrant violations of zoo policy in evidence and it was too crowded for officials to really engage in any enforcement. People knocked on glass enclosures that clearly stated do not knock on the glass and mocked the animals to do something for me. I made a few attempts to point at the signs to be met with angry glares and gave up in cowardice because many of the violators were big guys. I did see some mothers correcting their children but if the adults are going to act like butt heads, the kids will imitate.
One exhibit was interesting and ironic: The farm. At the entrance was a brief synopsis of the history of man and farming. It studiously avoided mentioning that farming has been inhaled by agri-business. I realized that many kids had never seen a real farm and only had the vaguest idea what one was which was the entire purpose of the exhibit. I grew up in the city but many of my relatives were "from the farm" and I had plenty of visits to Uncle Bob and Aunt Suzy's actual farm as a kid. As we become more divorced from that knowledge, we are transformed into mindless consumers with no hint of consequences. I have much work to do in that area myself so I am not fronting a pious meme.
I am reminded of the movie Twelve Monkeys when a virus wipes out humanity but leaves the wild animals running around.
I apologize for the long and rambling half assed critique, I did take a few decent pictures. I am fully aware that any commentary I give about them is completely and utterly rooted in anthropomorphism.
Who among us can resist the meerkat?
This tiger, I believe he is a Sumatran Tiger, appeared mellow or he was too tired to care.
There was a small butterfly exhibit.
Our national bird:
Waterfowl hanging out.
Ah, penguins. I think that they are Black Footed Penguins.
These are some kind of African crane.
A Cormorant.
The shy Red Panda.
There were too many people visiting the showcase Pandas for a picture.
The sheep at the "farm" were actually curious fellows. They looked brighter than many of the humans.
This little burro looks kind of sad.
Finally, the boys and the girls do not hang out together.
Hope you enjoy the pictures. It is not the San Diego Zoo or the Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum but a place to ponder about the animals we fantasize about and whether our dominion over the universe is really such a wonderous thing.