Several years ago, a friend of mine won a contest, the prize being a trip for two to Amsterdam. Wonder of wonders, she asked me to go with her. It was a glorious trip. One of the places we visited was the Artis, Royal Zoo Amsterdam, where litte herds of goats wandered freely on the grounds, along with other wandering animals, such as various domestic birds - ducks and chickens. We visited the aquarium and then toured the usual animal exhibits. When we got to the tiger cage, we were particularly struck with how incongruous this particular tiger was, caged behind bars, when he should have been free in the forests of Asia. Anyway, we walked away and then for some reason both turned back. When we walked past the wall separating his cage from the next animal, he was crouching, poised to pounce - which he did! He actually was waiting for us to return, to lunge at us. Well, the bars of the cage saved us, of course, but we both felt keenly at once gratitude that he was on that side and we on this, as well as something of the cruelty of zoos. He was angry. He wanted to do what tigers do - hunt. And he couldn't. Maybe this image from Flickr is the same tiger. I don't know - probably not, but it brings back the memories of that day.
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Week 3, Thing #5a - Amsterdam Tiger
Several years ago, a friend of mine won a contest, the prize being a trip for two to Amsterdam. Wonder of wonders, she asked me to go with her. It was a glorious trip. One of the places we visited was the Artis, Royal Zoo Amsterdam, where litte herds of goats wandered freely on the grounds, along with other wandering animals, such as various domestic birds - ducks and chickens. We visited the aquarium and then toured the usual animal exhibits. When we got to the tiger cage, we were particularly struck with how incongruous this particular tiger was, caged behind bars, when he should have been free in the forests of Asia. Anyway, we walked away and then for some reason both turned back. When we walked past the wall separating his cage from the next animal, he was crouching, poised to pounce - which he did! He actually was waiting for us to return, to lunge at us. Well, the bars of the cage saved us, of course, but we both felt keenly at once gratitude that he was on that side and we on this, as well as something of the cruelty of zoos. He was angry. He wanted to do what tigers do - hunt. And he couldn't. Maybe this image from Flickr is the same tiger. I don't know - probably not, but it brings back the memories of that day.
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