last week i went to marine world. it was my dad’s company picnic and he had free tickets, so our whole family went and caryn came along. i have mixed feeling about marine world. on one hand, i love animals. going there and checking out giraffes, dolphins, lions etc is really cool. we even got to watch tigers swim *under water*. on the flip side, i kinda thind it’s fucked up to have these animals stuck in small enclosed areas and doing stupid tricks to entertain people. i feel kinda hypocritical for going therea nd having a good time, when i think it’s not the right thing to do. at the same time though, there is this theory that zoos etc are actually good for animals in general. when people (esp children at a young age) actually get to go out and see live animals and interact w/ them etc, it encourages them in later years to want to help protect them. basically, if humans dont interact w/ nature, they’ll have no reason to like it and/or want to preserve it. i guess the animals at these parks end up suffering for the greater good.
one of the cool things at the park was an enclosed area filled w/ lorikeets. these are really cool looking vibrantly colored birds. you can buy little cups of nectar, and then the lorikeets will land on you and drink up….
the other cool thing about marine world is the roller coasters. this have this one hella cool one where you are accelereated super fast right from the start (instead of slowly being pulled up a hill) and then it shoots you into a vertical corkscrew. the speed that this thing starts off w/ was so fast!
all in all it was a cool day. i hardly ever hang out w/ my family these days except for short 2 or 3 hour blocks for dinner or something, so it was really nice to go and spend the day w/ them. plus it was cool that caryn got to hang out w/ them as well. they’re always asking about her, but since she’s gone during the week, they’ve really only met her a couple of times.
*v
Zoos and places like Marine are actually really helpful to those animals. The animals in those places are generally those that cannot survive in the wild, so by being there, they are given a chance to live. Many of the animals there are also there for rehabilitation purposes and later released. Then there are also those that are on the brink of extinction and being protected. Zoos and such are so well regulated these days that the animals are treated really well and the people that work there love them and care for them like children.
Yeah it may seem a little sad that some are in smaller enclosures and not out in the wild, but death being the alternative, I am thankful for such places. Plus the animals living in such places are generally found to be really happy and living rather well.
I used to find zoos and such a little sad, but once I became better educated about them, I think they are great for the preservation of wildlife and the education of future generations.
I still wish the animals could be free to roam, but most can’t survive out in the wild, so I’d much rather know they are living happyily and being well cared for than stuggling to survive.
ahhh, the colors in the birds are beautiful. So vibrant. Nice contrast with the red-orange.
smiles.
cat