This article is from the source 'guardian' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2013/mar/22/london-zoo-creature-comforts

The article has changed 2 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 0 Version 1
London zoo: creature comforts London zoo: creature comforts
(6 months later)
We learn about ourselves by studying animals, they say, and long before reality TV turned watching people's private lives into mass entertainment came the pleasure of peering into the secret world of animals. The modern zoo dates from the late 18th century. But the Enlightenment century's elevation of the human left little respect for the rest of the living world and the exotic creatures of Australasia and Africa – the quagga , the greater kudu – were wrenched from the jungle and the desert and transported to Britain, first for potential agricultural exploitation and then for the amusement and delight of everyone who could afford to visit London zoo, one of the first and greatest of its kind.We learn about ourselves by studying animals, they say, and long before reality TV turned watching people's private lives into mass entertainment came the pleasure of peering into the secret world of animals. The modern zoo dates from the late 18th century. But the Enlightenment century's elevation of the human left little respect for the rest of the living world and the exotic creatures of Australasia and Africa – the quagga , the greater kudu – were wrenched from the jungle and the desert and transported to Britain, first for potential agricultural exploitation and then for the amusement and delight of everyone who could afford to visit London zoo, one of the first and greatest of its kind.
More than a menagerie, its intention was always partly scientific. Yet for at least a hundred years, for most people the zoo was nothing to do with animal research. It was a place of tryst, assignation and enchantment, a portal to a fantasy world just off Regent Street. The magic of the inmates was only enhanced by the all too human inspiration of the celebrated architects brought in to build their cages, from Berthold Lubetkin's penguin pool to Hugh Casson's elephant house and the Snowdon aviary. How unfortunate that these palaces of the imagination were slowly understood to have failed the inmates for whom they were designed.More than a menagerie, its intention was always partly scientific. Yet for at least a hundred years, for most people the zoo was nothing to do with animal research. It was a place of tryst, assignation and enchantment, a portal to a fantasy world just off Regent Street. The magic of the inmates was only enhanced by the all too human inspiration of the celebrated architects brought in to build their cages, from Berthold Lubetkin's penguin pool to Hugh Casson's elephant house and the Snowdon aviary. How unfortunate that these palaces of the imagination were slowly understood to have failed the inmates for whom they were designed.
One by one, they have closed and their residents despatched to more expansive pastures. Now the zoo hopes that the new home for its Sumatran tigers, which opened on Wednesday, marks the culmination of the long journey from spectacle to science. The tiger territory is so large and multilayered, so replete with climbing trees and viewing platforms, that actually seeing either of the two inmates, Jae Jae and Melati, must be almost as exciting as glimpsing one in the Indonesian jungle.One by one, they have closed and their residents despatched to more expansive pastures. Now the zoo hopes that the new home for its Sumatran tigers, which opened on Wednesday, marks the culmination of the long journey from spectacle to science. The tiger territory is so large and multilayered, so replete with climbing trees and viewing platforms, that actually seeing either of the two inmates, Jae Jae and Melati, must be almost as exciting as glimpsing one in the Indonesian jungle.
Defenders of zoos argue that the study of animals in captivity is vital to conservation efforts in the wild. They play an important role in showing children a tiny bit of what their real world smells like, they help scientists plot the evolution of animal-to-human disease transmission. But Jae Jae and Melati, captive-bred creatures, would have no chance of surviving in the hostile environment for which evolution intended them. This is the curious achievement of human intervention: to breed wild creatures in captivity, genetic twins with their diminishing numbers of wild cousins incapable of surviving in their natural world. They are reduced to the status of living gene museum. London zoo argues that visitor charges underwrite conservation efforts. It doesn't stack up. Protecting others of the species is an insufficient justification for keeping wild creatures shut up, however artfully it's done.Defenders of zoos argue that the study of animals in captivity is vital to conservation efforts in the wild. They play an important role in showing children a tiny bit of what their real world smells like, they help scientists plot the evolution of animal-to-human disease transmission. But Jae Jae and Melati, captive-bred creatures, would have no chance of surviving in the hostile environment for which evolution intended them. This is the curious achievement of human intervention: to breed wild creatures in captivity, genetic twins with their diminishing numbers of wild cousins incapable of surviving in their natural world. They are reduced to the status of living gene museum. London zoo argues that visitor charges underwrite conservation efforts. It doesn't stack up. Protecting others of the species is an insufficient justification for keeping wild creatures shut up, however artfully it's done.
Our editors' picks for the day's top news and commentary delivered to your inbox each morning.