The Zoo

I went to the local zoo yesterday. I don't particularly care for zoos. I can take them or leave them really. After a visit, I usually feel a little bad for most of the animals, but I guess zoos can serve a purpose of educating people (especially children) and may help foster an appreciation of wildlife. I don't know. Maybe I'm just rationalizing.

I was a little surprised to find there weren't as many animals in the exhibits as the last time I went there (2 years ago). It was blatantly obvious in some cases. The bat exhibit, for example, used to house 50 bats or more that would fly back and forth and land on grapefruit that was hanging from the ceiling. It was strangely quiet in that exhibit and I only saw about 5 bats total and they weren't active. I also noticed some of the monkey exhibits were empty or had significantly less occupants.

What gives? Do zoos routinely purchase more animals than they can possibly keep expecting some of them to die off? Do they think it increases their odds of keeping them alive for display? If they buy 100 bats, they can be lax for a few years and not have to restock in 5 years or so?

It's a sad thing. I would like to do some investigative reporting on what goes on at zoos. I hope I'm not correct in this case, but it makes one wonder...