I don't like zoos.
This is why:
- Imagine you are a bird. You know every spot in your enclosure and you're bored by it. You want to leave, but you can't so you are very sad. That's why I don't like zoos.
. 
- I don't like that the animals are too hot. For example, if you are a penguin and you're too hot what will happen to your habitat? It will melt. The same is true for polar bears.
- I also think that zoos are just entertainment for humans for heaven's sake, but…
WE ARE ANIMALS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, that is why I don't like zoos.
In Chicago, we went to the Lincoln Park Zoo.
It was a cool zoo and it had a climbing area that I liked, but I felt incredibly bad for the animals. Incredibly.
The bird exhibit was pretty cool, but most of them were in pretty small enclosures. Some of them had open enclosures, but the zookeepers used fear basically to keep them in, as they had light in the enclosure but darkness outside, and the birds' fear of their predators is what kept them in.
I did like the seal exhibit because at least the zookeepers were teaching them things.
P.S. NEWS FLASH: For those who asked, the story of how the Rainbow Bridge got pooped on is that one day Daddy said to our cat Chaucer that Chaucer should poop on the Rainbow Bridge when he died. Chaucer is now dead. So… very sad story, huh?
P.P.S. In Chicago, I also left my phone in a Lyft car. Luckily, the driver found it and gave it back to us and Mommy gave her a tip. I got in trouble for leaving my phone in the Lyft car — I have to pay Mommy back for the tip she gave the lady.
That's my newest blog post. Bye for now. Thanks!
Blaine Voyage 
Great post! I don’t like zoos either, for the very reasons articulated.
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Yes cages are depressing. Just think about how Mommy and Daddy were at work (in cages) until they sprung out for this very adventure.
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Another great post, J!! I like some zoos–the ones that take good care of the animals. But a lot of zoos don’t do that, like you say. I love how compassionate you are!!
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Julie – Zoos make me sad, too.
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This is great! I don’t like going to the zoo for many of the same reasons! Love your post and the pictures!
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Some zoos do help the endangered species thrive but it is sad they have to be captive to achieve this.
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I’ve never liked zoos. Anything that feels like we are putting animals in subpar situations for our own benefit as humans feels very wrong to me. I’d much rather learn about animals by splashing around in a pond and catching frogs or watching deer in a field. One of the best things I ever did was work for a wildlife rehab person. That’s the way to see animals up close- with the idea they are getting released back into the wild where they belong. Zoos- and any creatures in cages- make me sad too.
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I don’t like most zoos either. Do keep in mind though that some have excellent breeding programmes and that zoos have come a long way. In fact, we have zoos here in Germany that at least try to do without bars and attempt to recreate the natural habitats. In Wuppertal the penguins are in a world of ice (behind glass) and visitors can wander through underwater tunnels to watch them swim.
The German poet, Rainer Maria Rilke, wrote a poem visiting a zoo in Paris around 1900. It is one of my favorites. I tried to find a translation for you:
The Panther
In the Jardin des Plantes, Paris
His gaze against the sweeping of the bars
has grown so weary, it can hold no more.
To him, there seem to be a thousand bars
and back behind those thousand bars no world.
The soft the supple step and sturdy pace,
that in the smallest of all circles turns,
moves like a dance of strength around a core
in which a mighty will is standing stunned.
Only at times the pupil’s curtain slides
up soundlessly — . An image enters then,
goes through the tensioned stillness of the limbs —
and in the heart ceases to be.
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Wonderful post Julie. Your voice is clear and to the point.❤️
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I’ve never been a fan of zoos either.
I never thought about work being like a zoo but I see that.
Keep up the good work
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