the human zoo; a disappointing philosophical experiment

here in adelaide, a young up and coming psychologist has noticed that there's one animal the adelaide zoo does not possess. one fascinating species that she devotes her academic energy to that is not detained behind 1-inch perspex, surrounded by fake plastic trees and barkchips. Homo sapiens...



















Figure 1. Carla Litchfield looking sexy with her laptop. Fine example of human use of tools.
so what does she do. in a quite obvious publicity stunt (both for the adelaide zoo and herself), Carla Litchfield has put the call out for adelaidians who would like to spend a week in the zoo, being laughed at, poked at, having the glass tapped incecently by 4year-olds yelling "monkey, HEY MONKEY! come over here, i want to look at you" or swooning mothers who assume whenever two animals are near eachother, or touch, its some kind of love gesture.





















Figure 2. Grooming behaviours of the homo sapiens
upon hearing about this endeavour i was surprised. what a bold philosophical statement, one that should have been made a long time ago. we are just animals, why should we not have an exhibit (as the adelaide zoo staff call their artificial habitat + animal of choice areas, like an ART exhibit! ha) for the most dominant species on the planet. maybe, i thought, it will get people thinking about the nature of their relationship to all the other animals in that place, how they're just an animal as well, and how just because they can write books, keep accounts, work shitty jobs and walk bipedally, it doesnt mean they're the be all and end all of evolutionary progress; that there are plenty of perfectly adapted forms around that are way better suited to their environment than we are.
so, i gather together some of my friends and we toddle off to the zoo, pay our $13.50 admission (BAH!) to go take a peep at this interesting experiment. upon seeing the whole horrible arrangment all of my philosophical hopes are dashed. they have microphones, a SPA, advertisements posted anywhere and everywhere...its like bigbrother, but in the zoo! you are even expected to VOTE for your faourite human! HA, i think to myself, why dont they apply this to all animals in the zoo.
This week, vote for your favourite otter. Do you like Sqidgy; the lovable playful otter who loves chewing the heads of fish, or Sully; the angry, resentful otter whose always got a chip on his shoulder and a lesson to learn, or what about Lilly; the cutsy otter who everyone knows is sleeping around. VOTE NOW! And tune in next week when the otter you choose to evict is returned to the wild where he is not completely incapable of surviving and will probably cease to exist.
they even get to go home at night! its like a day job! come 8 o'clock they pack up their bags and head home!














Figure 3. Humans in their natural body adornments.
oh well, i guess it just re-enforces to me the role that zoos play. its like a fun fair, where you can go, and stare and laugh at the freaks, eat some popcorn, buy some stuffed animals and go home!