ANIMAL PEOPLE is the leading independent newspaper providing original investigative coverage of animal protection worldwide. Founded in 1992, ANIMAL PEOPLE has no alignment or affiliation with any other entity.

 

This site built and maintained by: GREANVILLE ASSOCIATESand CRESCENT COMMUNICATIONS •Rev. 12.1.05 Copyright ANIMAL PEOPLE, INC. 1992--2006

 

 

 

 

 
   

 
powered by FreeFind

ESSENTIAL DESTINATIONS

MONTH: May 2007

What we learned from zoos

 

Early zoo visits helped to motivate the lifelong pursuits of both ANIMAL PEOPLE publisher Kim Bartlett and editor Merritt Clifton.

Recalls Bartlett, "I have always been at odds with people who want to close down all zoos, because the animals mostly have nowhere to go.

"Some of my very earliest memories are of the zoo in Jackson, Mississippi, which was among my favorite places to be, second only to the mimosa tree in my great aunt Minnie's front yard. The Jackson zoo was probably a hell-hole for the animals, but I thought of it as a truly magical place full of wonderful animals."

Remembers Clifton, "My family did not have pets. Neither did we have television. Most of my early exposure to animals, in the 1950s and very early 1960s, was through occasional visits to the Oakland Zoo, the San Francisco Zoo, and once the Rotterdam Zoo in The Netherlands. Every moment of my zoo visits was remembered, treasured, and became deeply influential, later in life. Even as a child, I recognized some very bad zoo practices. Barren concrete enclosures and too-small cages shocked and upset me. Yet I also saw some good examples, that helped encourage me to believe that good zookeeping need not be an illusion."