This is not a blog [post] about whether zoos should exist. This is a blog [post] that questions whether our National Zoo should continue to exist.
Last weekend I flew up to Washington, DC to see my sister and brother-in-law, who were in DC for a professional conference. On Saturday we decided to go to the National Zoo for the afternoon. It was a cool but pleasant day and we were, like many provincial visitors, looking forward to a nice time. What we had instead was a somewhat disturbing and dispiriting experience.
The National Zoo actually is part of the Smithsonian Institution. It was established in the late 19th century and occupies about 160 acres near Rock Creek Park. Entrance to the Zoo is free, and you can get there easily using public transportation (take the Metro Red Line to either Woodley Park-Zoo/Adams Morgan or Cleveland Park). Both the public areas and the animal areas were quite clean, and although obvious rat-and mouse-infestations have been reported in the past, we didn’t see any signs of such in the public areas.
The premier attraction at the Zoo of course is the giant panda family: Mei Xiang, Tian Tian and their cub Tai Shan. Their “habitat” is the only one at the Zoo with a named corporate sponsor (Fujifilm). Although it is the nicest animal area at the Zoo, to me it still seemed small, shabby and sterile. Since it was a cool day, Tai Shan and his dad were outside. Tai Shan was eating bamboo in his yard, and seemed calm and totally absorbed by the task. We were told by a volunteer that the Zoo veterinarians had separated Tian Tian and Mei Xiang earlier in the week because Mei Xiang is ready to be bred again, and the Zoo will attempt this using sperm from a panda other than Tian Tian. Needless to say, Tian Tian seemed VERY agitated by this turn of events. He paced continuously around his small outdoor area as we watched, pausing briefly to aggressively strip some bamboo. We saw Mei Xiang inside, reclining on some fake rocks in a room much like a concrete cell. Call me naïve, but I thought the pandas would be rolling around happily outside, something like one imagines the stuffed “panda bears” sold in the Zoo gift shops would do. Perhaps we just caught them on a bad day. Or maybe every day is a bad day.
Posted by B Barron
