Melissa Milgrom Still Life Chapter 1 Summary

In the article “Zoos Are Cruel and Unnecessary,” Earth Times posed a question, “With the internet, as well as DVDs, 3D TV, etc., are zoos really necessary to teach people about animals in the 21st century?” In the response given by Liz Tyson, director of the Captive Animals’ Protection Society, she argues an animal and its environment in a zoo is “out of context” and there is no substitution for an animal’s natural habitat. Therefore, viewing animals in such environments distorts the message that a zoo’s primary purpose is to conserve these habitats in the wild. By focusing solely on the artificial habitats, Tyson fails to mention the educational opportunities that zoos and zoological parks can provide, such as interactive visitor programs, breeding and rehabilitation programs, and up-close animal encounters.

Did you know that the number of lions has dropped by over 300,000 over the past 50 years, or that the lions in Africa are losing their habitat? In the Scope Magazine article, Attack of the Man-Eaters, by Lauren Tarshis— Colonel J. H. Patterson was a British engineer who was building a railroad in Africa in the late 1800’s. He had no idea what sort of terrors he would face during his journey. In the other Scope article, Meet the Lion Whisperer by Susan Orlean, a man named Kevin Richardson shares his amazing story of the bonds he has with his lion friends. Throughout both articles, they have many similarities and differences.

Zoos, SeaWorld, and circuses are places for families to enjoy entertainment. However, most people do not realize how the animals in each of these establishments are handled. Yes, they all bring in revenue and present the tricks these animals can do, yet these places preform detrimental acts to the animals. For example, the killer whales at SeaWorld are sometimes starved if they do not perform the way the trainer wants them to. In comparison, circuses torture lions and tigers until they are submissive to how the show-people want them to act. Zoos do not necessarily torture their animals, but it is proven the animals live much shorter lives in captivity. “Lives of animals in the wild versus captivity are literally worlds apart, and even the best captive facilities can’t recreate the conditions of the wild — not exactly. Most don’t even try, leaving animals in tiny enclosures with no socialization, enrichment or joy. Captivity is unnatural and unhealthy” (Sentenac). People are starting to recognize the danger of continuing these practices, but there’s a long way to go.Furthermore, animals in all of these places have suffered many traumatizing and even deadly events. There was a recent report that two circus lions, whom had severe head injuries, were killed by poachers who snuck into the sanctuary. “Last year poachers bypassed an advanced security system at a lodge near the town of Tzaneen in the Limpopo province, killing two lions by feeding them poisoned meat” (Graham).

While I thought that Peterson’s descriptions sufficed to help the readers see how apes were treated – dead or alive, the pictures were more shocking. Originally, I skipped over the pictures, but they served to help bring Peterson’s words to life. Prior

If there is something like he doesn’t like, he will stop it. “Lion was up and heading for the door… At the front entrance and he took one look at the stack of papers, moved them to the middle of the sidewalk, broke the bailing wire that held them together, spread them out a little for air and put a match to them,” on page 36 is showing an example of how Lion will stand up and directly approach the problem. Another example is shown on page 148, “When Mr. Wheeler answered, Lion said, ‘Mr. Wheeler, this is Lion Serbousek. Don’t hang up… In thirty minutes we’re going to drive by your house to pick up Nortie’s stuff. If it is not out front, we’ll call the cops, and I swear to God we’ll make enough noise that even if they don’t arrest you, you’ll be all over the front page of tomorrow’s paper,” where even after being threatened at gunpoint, Lion will face the problem directly and will not let it go

The lions scrutinize their prey through the tall, dead grass ready to attack. They slowly creep towards their prey; eyes gleaming with hunger. The lion streak towards their victim, leaping to rip the creature apart. In the story, “The Veldt”, by Ray Bradbury, a nursery created a fake African veldt to keep the kids entertained. The kids are then addicted to the “game” and complain when their parents want to shut it off. The kids lock their mom and dad in the nursery with the African creatures. Africa is the most frightening part of “The Veldt” for many reasons including: how the veldt changes the children, the way Africa is interacting with the humans, and how much violence the creatures show.

The captivity of primates in zoos can be viewed as maltreatment by animal welfare organizations since confining them in such establishments is going against their rights to be liberated and it may cause some unwanted stress, yet zoos provide various enrichment programs, medicinal assistance, scheduled meals that are appropriate for the primate’s diet, and conservation of the said animal. Primate captivity in zoos can be regarded as both moral and unethical for it imprisons primates, however, as their natural habitat dwindles, zoos also preserve primate population through captive breeding. Furthermore, zoos simultaneously deform the lives of the primates, garner sympathetic reactions from humans for these creatures, and inform

The next morning, another zoo was scheduled to dissect a young lion and made it a part of their “animals inside out”. “Euthanizing” was their reason to control population. But the funny thing is that neither had to dissected a mammal larger than a rat. In 2014 not that long after Marius the giraffe was shot at the previous zoo. A British zoo professional had a talk with Bengt Holst the zoo’s scientific director. The professor asked Holst “What the fuck were you thinking?”. Zoo directors in the U.S. and Europe have a job with other unknown employs. Just to discuss with people who run the amusement parks and art

Lubar states that “large museums have so much in storage; why not transfer some of those collections to smaller museums, where they would be eagerly put on display? Even more radical why not sell some and use the proceeds to fund the work that museums should be doing” (146). Initially, this idea does seem radical. Large metropolitan museums giving their collections away is not something that is often done. Lubar explains that “there are more than a billion objects in American museum collections” (4). This number is so vast that is impossible to reasonably conceive. Because of this, there can only so many artifacts that are on display at once thus leaving countless others stuck in storage never seeing the light of day. Smaller museums that do not have the budget to collect could potentially benefit from larger museums deaccessioning items.

In Savages and Beasts: Chapter 3, Nigel Rothfels describes the modern cageless zoo as resulting from animal entrepreneur Carl Hagenbeck as well as the purpose’s behind Hagenbeck’s popularity. Hagenbeck’s creation of “people shows” are described as appearing to resemble the natural environments of its inhabitants. The author describes Hagenbeck’s capturing and transporting of exotic animals along with the economic struggles that came with the growing success of an overproduction of animals and deflating prices. In response, circuses, or “people shows” came about; consisting of people whose life styles were different from their audience as well as animals, tents and household and hunting equipment. Hagenbeck’s circus exhibits were described

The clouds turned eerie and dark, as lightning struck beautifully, and the thunder roared loudly in the sky, welcoming the new king of the Lionheart Kingdom, King Leo XVI. Leo was a fortunate and young cub born in the wealthy side of the kingdom. He was chosen to be the king because his grandfather, Leo XIV had died. Leo was still a young cub, and he still had so much to discover about the world around him. He was not the typical lion who was brave, courageous, and audacious; he was more of a lazy, indolent, and an indecisive lion. As soon as he became king he moved into a paradisal and heavenly palace called Leon, where everything is what any poor animal could ever dreamed of. And what is a king without a queen? Leo decided

This research would aid zookeepers in determining the necessary and effective measures that would improve the lives of their contained animals (Welty, "300 Days"). When chimpanzees are being contained in zoos, it is necessary that they receive proper care and habitat. The Chimpanzoo Project's main objective was to reveal that wild chimpanzees do not undergo behavioral changes that would be caused by being placed in a peculiar environment, therefore setting an example of how captive chimps should be treated. By enlisting the help of many people across the world to document the behaviors of chimps, Goodall demonstrated the importance of mimicking a natural environment for captive animals so as to not interrupt the normal processes of chimp's everyday lives (Welty, "300 Days"). Goodall raised awareness that the main purpose of keeping zoos was being conflicted with the way that some chimps were being carelessly treated. Animals that are placed in zoos should capture the wonder of nature, and bring the unknown actions of wildlife to the minds of people. However, when chimps' habitats in zoos are not similar to their natural environments, their actions do not reflect those that would be executed in a normal environment, defeating the purpose of containing wild animals to show their antics to curious onlookers. Goodall's initiatives inspired members of society to learn more about the needs of their chimps, in turn enabling zookeepers to maintain more suitable habitats for their chimpanzees as they become aware of how their original exhibit was harming the

Speaker Credibility - Elephants have always been my favorite animal.Since a young age when i was introuduce to the movie Dumbo i always found an intrest in Elephants. Growing up Elephants became more than just a cute animal i seen on a movie , Elephants became a symbolf of respect , good luck , strength, and wisdom. (Show them my tattoo)

The question of humanity arises every couple of years, on the topic - should exotic animals be allowed to be kept as pets. Is it humane for the beings who feel pain, give birth, take care of their young like human beings do to be behind bars? According to the National Geographic 66 percent of wild animals are owned privately while the 28 percent of the animals reside in the zoo. Some of the exotic animals can be found as pets rather than in the wild. The estimated number of Tigers kept as pets are between 5,000 and 7,000, which is more than the ones that exist in the wild. Interested buyers can purchase a tiger cheaper than some of the purebred dogs, for the price as shocking as 300 dollars. Though some states in the United States do allow wild animals as pets, it is still illegal in most states or require a license for it. Most of the animals as pets are through illegal routes like underground auctions and smuggling.

The sun was shining, the sky was spotted with clouds, and the wind was whistling as it passed through the trees. Overall, it was the perfect day to visit the zoo. Smiling, happy children bounded beside me as I walked underneath the large, blue and yellow sign announcing “The Colorado Zoo.” As I walked onto the sidewalk, I looked out over the “habitats.” The big, colorful signs advertising the exotic animals “brought from all over the world!” Animals that were taken from their home, taken from their habitats, and taken to a world where they are put on display. Animals who are forced to live out their lives in zoos in unhealthy, degrading, and devastating ways.