Week 2

1. The zoo set up in relation to Linnaeus’ classification was mostly based on…. The “stamp collecting” term comes from arranging the animal’s cages in a way that displays them dramatically throughout the space/hall they are in. This is problematic because some cages would be put in the middle of the room and open from all sides. Animals in captivity need to have some sense of security, and this made them extremely nervous. 2. In the 17th and 18th century, the industrial revolution was happening in England, thus creating a desire for progress and improvement in all aspects of life. Learning and reading became stylish and preferred past times. The study of natural history and nature became especially popular, because it was an activity that the whole family would enjoy, and it was also widely viewed as learning about God’s vast creations, which was to bring people closer to divine understanding. 3. Seeing exotic animals in zoo’s led to people wanting to see baby animals, which meant taking young away from their mothers at a young age. It also become popular, among the rich, to have exotic pets for themselves, which drastically reduced the animal’s quality of life due to lack of experience from the owners. Zoo’s, because of the public demand for babe animals, began breeding programs with little regard to the care for the parents or the animal’s futures. This created a surplus in unwanted exotic animals, but created a form of revenue for the zoos. Lincoln Park Zoo did this a lot in its early years, and was very open to selling to private collections and buying from menageries and circuses with little concern for the well being of the animal. “Care for Life” has been very important for the improvement of life for animals in captivity. This ensures that all animals in participating zoos, etc, are taken care of for their entire life. Most zoos have discontinued animal shows, in addition to breeding all together unless it is necessary for an endangered species. 4. He approaches the relationship between human and animal more abstractly. While he acknowledges the obvious intelligence differences, he implies that animals maintain equality by not speaking. By not being silent, they become used as a source of food or labor or worship. They become anything a human needs them to be. The projection of the self and one’s emotions onto a being with a completely different way of dealing with the world creates a one way dialogue in which case the human isn’t always right, because the other is alive. There are no words but there is communication. As he says, “No animal confirms man, either positively or negatively.” He also talks about language as an abstract form of communication, and early humans creating it. Language started out only as metaphors; words representing what was actually there or being referred to. Animals are pure in the sense that they completely are. They do not allude to metaphor for communication, and can only be trained on command because of a sound. Language is sound, and looks, movements, growls, snorts, etc. are their only form of communication.