Rothels (Zoo’s)

This was sort of a tough read because I didn’t really seem to understand the authors point. He talks about Micro cultural incidents and how it doesn’t really have to do with animals and humans but more of just the study of the human’s gestures and culture. He says the zoo is just a neutral background.  But further through the reading he questions if it is truly a neutral background he then states how he thinks Zoos are sort of like a pleasure to humans and how unknowingly they have a thing for “seeing creatures in captivity. He states how in Germany there was a zoo that got rid of its bars and was located outside in the open in comparison to other enclosed zoos. This zoo in particular tried its best to make the people see the animals in their natural habitat. He tied that in with a more modern zoo where in a gorillas cage trees were wrapped with electric wires so that the gorillas wont damaged them, but the zoo made them look like vines so it could seem appealing to the public and so they could think that the animals were happier in their natural habitat.  In the end he tied it to do they really deserve this? Are their lives worth less? Also his last example was about the jaguar and the keepers accommodating to the jaguars abilities he realized that maybe Zoos aren’t just for the public but are built for the close relationship of the keepers and the animals. That maybe humans aren’t that cruel after all, they just go to zoos to see if they have improved in a sense. (People go not because they fail to see the limitations of the place but because they are searching for the possibilities)