Seneca Park Zoo

I find zoos in general both fascinating and depressing. I grew up visiting the National Zoo with my parents, but don't have much memory of it (other than my little brother coming to the realization that "I not a baboon," my mother's pet name for him till then), and the recent allegations of mismanagement there are extremely unsettling.  In all the years I lived in the New York City tri-state area, I only visited the Central Park Zoo once, and I never made it to the Bronx Zoo.  But I've been to the Seneca Park Zoo three times already, and we have become members.

My first exposure to Rochester's zoo was in June at their annual Zoobilation party.  It thunderstormed most of the evening, but the zookeepers made sure the animals were outside, for our enjoyment.  Because of the rain, we were able to get quite close to the lions. They took refuge on their side of the double-decker bus while we watched from inside (safe and dry) only several feet away.  They clearly knew we were there, though!

The second time I visited was for the summer Rochester Garden Club Flower show, and I was enthralled by the elephants, and how they responded to their trainers:  http://youtu.be/Yev5TJTGpzg.  The polar bear was unhappy with the heat, but most of the other animals seemed to be coping.  The monkeys watched us watching them and I couldn't help anthropomorphizing and wondering if they were bored, or happy or angry at their captivity.  I could have stood and watched them and the incredibly beautiful wolves for hours.

The zoo is not a place you normally think to visit in winter, but I was curious to see the polar bears in weather more hospitable to them.  The zoo was rather desolate.  There were very few visitors, and many of the animals were inside or elsewhere (they ship the alligators to Florida for the winter), which added to my sense of gloom at these animals being locked up in small enclosures.  I know that zoos have an educational benefit, and that some of these animals have a longer life than they might statistically in the wild, where they would be part of a larger food chain, or in danger of being hunted.  But it's still sad to watch the wolves just circling in their tiny pen, or to see the elephants ambling in their limited space (although I was intrigued as I watched one elephant meticulously mold snowball after snowball with its trunk and then eat them!).  The baboons were also out in the snow, searching for buried food.

You can only see one polar bear at a time, although the zoo has a male and a female.  Apparently, the female might be pregnant, and it stresses her out too much to be in close proximity to the male (in the wild, the female would leave the male to build her den (his role is over) and she would remain protective of her cubs - yes, polar bears are known to be occasionally cannibalistic in the wild). The zoo's polar bears seem quite old - they are both almost 25 (the average 'in the wild' lifespan is estimated at 15-18 years, but in captivity, they can live into their 30s), and the one I saw definitely had a wattle!  It lolled in the snow, licking its paws, occasionally lifting its head in the direction of the scent of a passerby.  http://youtu.be/SHiagbuaa0c

Without a fence it would have been so tempting
to reach out and pet the wolves!

Rochester's zoo is obviously space-constrained, sitting as it does on a narrow piece of property between Seneca Park (and the Genesee River) and a residential neighborhood.  But it would be nice if there were a petting zoo for young children.  It would also be interesting if the zoo had 'nanny cams' in strategic 'out-of-sight' locations, so that if animals weren't in view at the moment, you might be able to watch them behind the scenes, on your smart-phone or tablet (or on a display in the canteen).

Although I am conflicted about confining animals in zoos, I guess that if they had the kind of space I imagine they would like, to have a fuller life behind bars (again with the anthropomorphizing), then they would rarely be visible to visitors, which would defeat the purpose. And if they spark an interest in the upcoming generation to save the environment for these wonderful creatures, then these emissaries will have made the sacrifice for the greater good of their species.