The very first time I went to the zoo was when I was still in my primary school, back then in Ilorin, we contributed to go on a school excursion, and the location was Unilorin zoo. We were told to wear good clothes, take our hats, come with our water bottles and most importantly to be coordinated and to not talk to strangers.


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Well, they told us it would be fun all through, we were never told it might scare us to see certain animals like the lion lying down with it's frightful eyes and could be gazing at you for minutes as if looking for whom to devour. I don't really understand much back then, I just thought that was it, so, we were just there feeling the vibe, laughing, taking pictures and screaming, but during all of these, the lion got my attention, it was just there laying down and looking somehow, I was just wondering how something we were told his very powerful could be looking so tired.... 






While growing up, I saw how we do tie our goats under the staircase, the dog in a cage right beside the gate, our neighbor also kept their parrot in a cage right next to the window, one shop in our area also own a monkey, its always chained to a very big table used for displaying wares and all monkeys. It felt normal, you normal, it was normal for them to be tamed for fun.





But my experience at the zoo made me felt somehow, you watch a elephant as big as it is just going back and forth with no clear direction, you watch the lion just roar and then go back to lay down, it has become a habit and there way of living, they just roam about their fenced habitat and I can't help but wonder if they are either being protected or they are captured like prisoners to be fed, watched and photographed.....?






I understand the argument of some that it is for educational purpose, if not for zoos most of us wouldn't know or even see how a hyena or giraffe really look like, it does matter, but then again while should educating comes at the cost of the freedom of this creatures..... 






Some argue about *conservation*, that it's best to keep them in the zoo and thsyt if left in the wild they are prone to dying faster, as there are poachers, and deforestation as well could wipe them off, that maybe being held captive is better than them going extinct. But I have also asked myself if I would be glad rather live eighty years in chain or forty years in freedom, well I don't have a answer to that yet..






There was a time I was having a discussion with an old man, he was working as a zookeeper, he was the one who told me most of the animals kept at the zoo were those rescued and that some are even given birth to there meaning they don't even know what the wild looks like, they don't know why they were given birth to, they don't know their strength, some don't even know what they are capable of. They sre living there life to entertain others, I think that's a silent pain. 


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Now, I see children happy and scream in joy when they see a zebra, I was like that too then though, I even see adult smile as well when they see a peacock stretch it's beautiful wings and all. I love all of those but then I think it should be done differently now, we should build places where these animals can roam freely and won't feel like a prisoner.





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