A zoo is a place of knowledge and information. A chance to see and observe animals and other wildlife generally inaccessible to us urban folk.
Often a zoo also acts a centre of ex-situ conservation and also aims to encourage breeding among endangered species.
But more than anything, if the mission statement of the National Zoological Park in Delhi is taken seriously, the objective is to :
” To inspire amongst zoo visitors empathy for wild animals, an understanding and awareness about the need for conservation of natural resources and maintaining ecological balance.”
But on a visit to a zoo on any odd day, it is not surprising to see people teasing, feeding and attempting to agitate animals in the enclosures.
The infamous incident at the Delhi zoo, when a person who was teasing the tigers, fell into the enclosure and was mauled to death.
Many blamed the zoo and the animal as well. But the death entirely preventable, if only our own human foolishness is controlled.
And now, this.
A man from Hyderabad, for something as meaningless as Facebook ‘likes’, jumped into a tortoise enclosure at the Hyderabad Zoological Park and stood on top of a 120-year-old tortoise for a picture.
Looking at this video, it’s hard to imagine whether the animals in the zoo are the ones inside the enclosure, or the barbarians outside.