I went to the safari in San Diego which is not really different from a zoo in fact. Animals have a little more space but not so much. When animals are in cage, it seems like the owners try to suppress their free will. In this safari, I saw a show with two elephants. Their trainers were showing how they were taking care of them by performing tricks. The woman who was presenting the show was saying that they have saved the aforesaid animals from being killed before. It sounds like they were trying to find a justification to the situation of the elephants. On the other hand, it may be true, and it is really respectable, but these animals were probably not expecting to spend the rest of their lives in closed spaces, and to perform tricks for people to see.
After reading an article on elephants in the world of the circus (1), it does not change my mind. On the contrary, it strengthens my preexisting beliefs. I was shocked to learn that elephants were treated so badly. No animals should receive such treatments. It is already hard for them to live this kind of life. They are like slaves who are "employed" to perform tricks. I did not think that the elephants were having such a hard time.
When I read that, in April 1999, Tarzan Zebini was attacked by an elephant because he was smelling strongly of alcohol, I was surprised by the extreme sensibility of these animals. They remembered that they have been trained by drunks in the past. As a result, they were afraid of being beaten again. What astounded me was not the fact that they rebelled against their trainers, but more the fact that they never "forget a face or a trespass" as it was mentioned in the first story with Janet. Animals are not so different from us, so what rights do we have to treat them that way ? They have feelings, they experience pain, and they have free will which sadly some people try to annihilate.
In many cases where elephants broke free and attacked the people who caused them painful experiences, the circuses were always hiding the facts which were later revealed by spectators. I was maybe more angry about it. It is horrible to hide the truth because it can lead to the killings of innocent animals like in Florida midway where the elephant of the Great American Circus was killed coldly by the police at the request of the owner of the circus. They did not care about the people who were protesting. They did not think that nothing happens accidentally. These kinds of incident are "provoked" by previous events.
From the reading, elephants rebel against their trainers who have treated them badly. They do not want to be obedient. They want to be free. They are not stupid creatures.
In the following video (2), a crow tried to crack a nut to eat it. He first used the height. Then, he used the cars to crack his nut, but he could not retrieve his nut. Finally, he used the traffic and the cross-walk to crack his nut and to safely eat it.
With this example, it is evident that animals are intelligent and reflect logically. They do something for a reason and not because of their hormones like say the scientists to explain the behavior of male elephants, or not by incident like in circus versions. Animals should be treated with respect. If people who train them don't do that, how can they expect to be treated with respect as well ?
(1) Article on elephants and the circus
(2) Video of a crow using traffic to crack nuts
No comments:
Post a Comment