Three month old jaguars at the Shanghai Zoo.
Some people are gonna say the zoo here is not bad, as far as zoos go (it's actually quite scenic with lots of trees, and a big park and lake in the middle). Others are gonna say zoos are cruel in general, but particularly in China where people have no compassion for the animals. Yes, I did see people being dickheads - spitting on the crocodiles to try and get them to react (I was this close to spitting on the guy), banging the sh*t out of the glass in the turtle tank (they're not gonna move any faster motherf*cker, THEY'RE TURTLES!), and feeding the bears junk food, so there's all sorts of garbage in their little habitat.
I didn't know how I felt about it. Living here in China this long, I already expected that sort of behaviour going in, so I just rolled my eyes, and mumbled 'wtf' a lot. I knew getting all huffy and righteous about it was gonna ruin my day, so I just tried to ignore it as best I could. It felt wrong though not to try to make change or speak up, even though it would inevitably fall on deaf ears. What does that make me for not standing against what I think is wrong? Is leading by example the only thing I can do in this situation, or is that just a cop out?..
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