Now this bear has no reason to be sad having apparently been rescued from a life as a status symbol to a Mafia gangster. So the fact that he's in the zoo and not being ill-treated is a Good Thing. The fact that he was removed from the wild in the first place is, I would suggest, a Bad Thing. However looking at these pictures (taken at full telephoto through glass and therefore not as clear as they could be) he doesn't look excactly ecstatic. But then perhaps bears just don't ever look happy.
Zoos. Ugh. The bars and cages; the pacing animals who look distressed - if not dead-eyed.
ReplyDeleteYes yes they 'conserve' and 'educate'. And I've heard the arguments for 'modern' zoos - smaller; better planned; making progress in research and animal husbandry. Why then are Zoos just so repellent? Or is that too much of an anthropomorphic response?
It certainly does look sad... but then so do happy basset hounds, and some men with beards...
ReplyDeleteAnimals in zoos often live longer. But is that a good thing? I dunno.
Is he the only bear in that zoo? He's got a bit of a lonely look in these pictures, but then again I don't really know what a happy bear is supposed to look like. Perhaps he just likes to sit and contemplate...
ReplyDeleteY. I feel that way about Zoos yet the bears at this Zoo are all 'rescue' bears. Mind you I couldn't even look at the tigers.
ReplyDeleteKatherine: Your first statement was very gnomic!
Monica: There are three, all 'rescue' animals. To be fair when he'd stopped contemplating he did wander off at a fair pace so I think Katherine may be correct.
PS My heading for this post should have had a ? after it.
ReplyDeleteOh, he does look sad, lonely and bored! Love the last shot where he's looking straight at you as if to say 'How would you feel?" But he is very handsome!
ReplyDeleteSome berry bushes would help! And a little river with salmon?
ReplyDeleteYes, he is gorgeous!
I don't know why but bears always creep me out. Maybe because their eyes seem unnecessarily tiny.
ReplyDeleteThis reminds me of the 'sad bear ' I saw on my first visit to Auckland zoo. I think I was about eleven years old. The resident Polar bear was housed in an ice coloured concrete enclosure. He swayed back and forwards, looking bored and very forlorn.
ReplyDeleteEven at my young age I knew this wasn't good.
Now I take my children to the Auckland zoo, several times during the year and I and impressed at the roomy, natural enclosures. For a 'zoo', I am overjoyed to walk around watching happy animals. In fact we tend to forget they are enclosed while wandering around. The design and layout on the most part imitates a variety of natural habitats.
Well done for making some drastic improvements Auckland!! It was certainly needed.
GB your bear.................it looks like it needs a honey pot to stick it's head into. What sad wee smile!!