We're going to the zoo....!

I have always considered myself a nature loving, freedom for all, world peace kind of gal'. It was in this politically correct spirit that I took my eldest daughter, Abigail(5) for her very first visit to the zoo. I wanted to pass on this legacy of loving all creatures as Adam was expected to do. With great excitement, we awakened at the crack of dawn on Saturday, had a quick breakfast and then we were off! We all felt like zoo pioneers, braving the great, polluted outdoors....traffic, hooting cars and road rage.

Upon our arrival we agreed to follow the 'Feeding Schedule'. Now, everyone who knows me, will tell you I have an uncanny ability to put my foot in 'it' and then dig even further...even the zoo was no challenge for me. So there we were, watching the cougars, armadillo's and spider monkeys. I spotted a couple, whom we had seen at our little feeding tour and subsequently we started chatting about our impressions of the zoo and zoo's in Africa.

At this point, I think I should explain a few things about myself: I am a farm girl in flesh and bone i.e I know how that piece of meat or chicken ended up on your plate (enough said). I am also an avid animal lover who believes that, even though co-habitation with wild creatures is a most challenging philosophy, they deserve to have the best quality of life possible no matter what that might entail. Couple that with a very opinionated nature and yes, a recipe for diplomatic disaster ala Bill Clinton.

So, there we were, talking about how we think that zoo's could improve an already well organised machine when the lady mentioned how appalled she was at the cougar enclosure and how they seemed to just lie around. Yes, I agreed, in fact my husband and I had seen the three packs of lions just lying about, seemingly uninterested, with nothing in their enclosure but grass and tree stumps when I said it: "Why don't they toss a live sheep in there every once in a while, so they can practice their hunting skills or put a couple of carps in the Polar Bear's enclosure to keep them active and stimulate them" Complete silence. I realised that I had said something wrong but what exactly? "You know?" I was hoping to glean some explanation of exactly what offence I had committed when the husband stepped in. "I don't think that would go down well with us city slickers, we can barely eat a fish if we saw it alive", he giggled nervously, while his wife regained her composure. "Sorry, I meant no offence. I come from a farm where I used to raise calves and chickens for my father and some of them used to end up in the freezer...so I suppose...." I was digging and with every vein pulsating on that woman's forehead, I knew I was sinking....fast!

"That's like eating your own children!", was all she could muster, walking off with her husband apologetically glancing at me and waving goodbye. I had done it again....how did it all go so wrong? I suddenly knew what men felt like when they did not notice their wives new haircuts...

These people, who visited the Kruger National Park regularly and watched Animal Planet, could not handle the truth about the basic circle of life? I was puzzled and told my darling husband who, sensing the impending danger, had quietly left for a smoke break. One look was enough. "What did you do to those poor people?", he inquired with a strict smile. I explained how such an intelligent conversation turned into a complete disaster,when he started laughing at me. Being from Johannesburg, I was hoping he could reveal the secrets of the City Dweller and here he was, laughing at me? By now, confusion was taking hold and there was nowhere to run! "Baby, you would never make it in politics" and then he walked to the bear enclosures.

As I stood there, I suddenly felt so very sorry for those people. They would never fully appreciate the prowess of a lioness or the stealth of a tiger. They would never understand the pure majesty of a creature being truly wild, as God intended.

"In the end, we conserve only what we love. We will love only what we understand. We will understand only what we are taught." - Baba Dioum, Senegalese poet