Closer

Day 261

A day at Chester Zoo. The orangutans were definitely one of my favourites, but sadly, the viewing gallery was so packed out, it was hard to get a decient look let alone a picture, thank goodness for a zoom lense.

These days, the whole idea of zoos is not to show off about how many animals they've managed to capture from their wild habitat, but to breed endangered species and release them back into their natural habitat. It is also to educate the general public in why it is SO important that these species aren't made extinct, and what better way than being able to stand face-to-face with one of man's closest relatives? There's something in an orangutan's face that is so human.

However, while in some cases keeping these wild animals in an encolsure (and it has to be said that Chester has some of the best enclosures i've ever seen) for the sake of education and conservation is a fantastic thing, I still struggle to see how a wild animal (even if it is born from a long line of captive bred animals) can have a natural and humane life in a zoo. The jaguar, for example, looked particularly bored, as it tred it's well worn path. Also, it really does upset me when some child is activaly encouraged by it's parent to bang on the window of an enclosure so that 'monkey' (it has no tail, it is an ape) will move.