Monday, October 13, 2014

Calls of the Wild Turn to Shrieks of Panic at Little Rock Zoo (Elizabeth Muscari P6)


A three-year old boy’s trip to the zoo went from entertaining to life threatening when he fell from the railing at the Jaguar exhibit in the Little Rock, Arkansas Zoo last week. The little boy was examining the jaguars when he leaned over too far and slipped in between the railing, tumbling down 15-16 feet and into the cats’ habitat. His grandfather and father, who quickly acted, trying to rescue the boy before animals spotted him, were watching the child. The exhibit contained two jaguars; they were said to have bit the child on the foot and near the neck. Zookeepers warded off the animals by using fire extinguishers while officials rescued the child from below. While his condition is not serious, the child has a scalp laceration and a depressed skull fracture. Officials have stated that there will be a full investigation to take place within the next week in order to assure Little Rock citizens that the zoo is indeed now safe.  

I think this relates to APUSH in the way that we have possibly treated animals in the wrong ways over the course of history. We began using animals for lamp-shades and carpets, hunted them to extinction, and enclosed them in areas that causes them to act out. For example, companies like Sea World have manipulated the public by lying to them and saying the whales are truly healthy, when, thanks to the documentary Black Fish, we see that they treat the whales in an inhumane manner. Although the boy’s fall could have been prevented, it still highlights that we add unnecessary risks when we import and confine animals in unnatural habitats for purposes like money and entertainment.

Read more at http://edition.cnn.com/2014/10/11/us/child-injured-zoo/index.html?hpt=us_c2

Written by Elizabeth Muscari (p6)


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