But such an event is less likely to happen than for a member of our own species, say a shopkeeper with all the usual ties-to family, to friends, to society-to drop everything and walk away from his life with only the spare change in his pockets and the clothes on his frame. In theory-that is, as a simple physical possibility-an animal could pick up and go, flaunting all the social conventions and boundaries proper to its species. What is the meaning of freedom in such a context? Animals in the wild are, in practice, free neither in space nor in time, nor in their personal relations. So some people imagine.ДЄnimals in the wild lead lives of compulsion and necessity within an unforgiving social hierarchy in an environment where the supply of fear is high and the supply of food low and where territory must constantly be defended and parasites forever endured. Being denied its 'freedom' for too long, the animal becomes a shadow of itself, its spirit broken. It yearns mightily for 'freedom' and does all it can to escape. Then it is captured by wicked men and thrown into tiny jails. The life of the wild animal is simple, noble and meaningful, they imagine. They imagine this animal overseeing its offspring proudly and tenderly, the whole family watching the setting of the sun from the limbs of trees with sighs of pleasure. They imagine this wild animal roaming about the savannah on digestive walks after eating a prey that accepted its lot piously, or going for callisthenic runs to stay slim after overindulging. These people usually have a large, handsome predator in mind, a lion or a cheetah (the life of a gnu or of an aardvark is rarely exalted). Well-meaning but misinformed people think animals in the wild are 'happy' because they are 'free'. I have heard nearly as much nonsense about zoos as I have about God and religion. It is something so bright, loud, weird and delicate as to stupefy the senses. I spent more hours than I can count a quiet witness to the highly mannered, manifold expressions of life that grace our planet. The reward for the watching eye and the listening ear is great. They turn to each other and perform their rites. They stir and leave their shelter and tiptoe to the water's edge. In zoos, as in nature, the best times to visit are sunrise and sunset.

Life of pi free online