Cages Vs The Wild

Growing up, during my days in elementary school, I watched as my classmates packed themselves into a bus and went on excursions around the state. Sometimes, they went on excursions to other states, and every time they got back, they would spend days talking about how much fun they had, the things they saw, and the pictures they took. Those of us who didn’t go would sit in their midst, and watch their lips move, we’d wish we also went. My mom never allowed me to go on excursions. She was always skeptical that something would happen, so while my classmates visited the zoo, I was at home doing other things. Something deep in me wanted to explore. I had only seen wild animals in movies, and something inside me just wanted to see them in real life. Of course, not in close range.

When I got into high school, the narrative was still the same. My mom remained the overprotective parent who didn’t want her kids to fly beyond where her wings could reach. In my third year in high school, I decided that if Mohammed won’t come to the mountain, the mountain must come to Mohammed. Since my parents were not ready to allow me to go on excursions to the zoo with my classmates, I decided to sponsor the trip myself. Luckily, there is a zoo at Obafemi Awolowo University, which is not very far from my high school. All I needed was the transport fare to get there and the gate fee. At that time, the gate fee into the zoo was just #200. So I shared the plan with two other friends. We picked a date and decided on when to go.

I did not tell my parents about the trip, but it was worth it. The first time I attended a zoo was adventurous. I remember seeing a very big snake that could swallow me whole. Plus, I was much smaller at the time. I also saw a hyena that was kept in a not-too-tall fence. Like, you could see the hyena. If it wanted to, it could jump the short fence and pounce on you. But somehow, it didn’t. Whenever we moved close to it, it shifted back. I also saw a very big ostrich, monkeys, and lions. I was super excited to see the lions. They looked exactly the way I saw them in movies. I remember clicking pictures of almost everything I saw and posting them on Facebook.

The second time I visited that same zoo was about 4 years later. I had graduated from high school at the time, but this time, it was not as exciting as the first time. There were no interesting animals. I was expecting to see the hyena and more lions, but I only saw one tiny and hungry-looking lion. It was obvious that they had not been feeding the lion well. I imagined what would happen if it managed to jump out. A lion that has probably not eaten for days? Heavens!

For today’s prompt, the Hive Learners community asks if animals are being exploited for human entertainment. I read @nhaji’s post where she mentioned that animals in captivity are unable to produce as well as they would in their natural habitat. This is one of the reasons animals go extinct. Wild animals naturally belong in the wild. Naturally, they are meant to be in the wild hunting for animals and protecting themselves from being hunted. The fact that they are not well fed in zoos is also one reason why they should not be kept in captivity. Feeding these animals is expensive. So what’s the point of putting them there when they won’t be well fed?

There is still a way these animals can stay in their natural habitat and we humans can watch them. For example, the Safari experience where people go out into the wild to explore animals in their natural habitat isn’t a bad idea. Everyone wins something.

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Thanks for reading.