Penny and Drew are my two friends who inspire me to write about zoos. If you like any zoo, please read along with me.
And when you think of a zoo, don’t you love that there is a place with lions and monkeys and elephants; with tigers and bears? Crocodiles and giraffes? Plus all those birds? And that you can visit any day you like?
They are precious, these animals. But do you ever consider this; that they likely all consider themselves prisoners, the ones in ordinary zoos? Isn’t it sad that they must endure life in small enclosures? If you had to live there, I am sure you would get tired of such a place in a short time. Think of it: A bear for instance, born to roam its territory in its own way, without restrictions, but now in a cage with nothing to do all day long. The bear must get lazy and bored. It must dream of home, far away. It must dream of the bears left behind when it was captured and sold. I am here to ask you: What if you could visit another kind of zoo? One that the animals could enjoy?
Penny and her friend Drew felt there ought to be one special, nearly perfect zoo.
In The Nearly Perfect Zoo, the bears have miles and miles in which to roam. Some live with ice and snow. Some live in green forests. There are eight species of bears. All need a territory. Six of these are omnivores. Polar bears are carnivorous, while pandas eat mostly bamboo. Bears stay to themselves, except when mothers are raising cubs. They can outrun humans and they can climb up trees. You would not guess by looking: their nearest relatives are seals.
Then we have the elephants. These giant creatures are intelligent and kind hearted. Maybe not, if you scare them or harm them. Given the chance, they form a loving herd that cares for and protects each member. They will mourn fellow elephants’ deaths as much as humans mourn human deaths. They need lots of room to grow and to forage, for they eat up to eighteen hours per day.
The monkeys in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo live in trees and not jungle gyms. Some monkeys actually live on the ground. There are about two hundred and sixty-four species of monkeys, from Africa, Asia and South America. Different species eat fruit, insects, flowers, leaves, even reptiles. Monkeys are cousins to humans, as are apes.
Apes in The Nearly Perfect Zoo are closer to people than are monkeys. Chimpanzees have the same blood type as humans. In fact, scientifically speaking, humans are considered apes. Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Orangutans, Bonobos, and Gibbons, may be found in Penny’s and Drew’s incredible zoo.
Tigers lie in sunlit glades. When they want some dinner it is their lot to chase down a hapless animal for food. It sounds awful, and it is. But - More awful than raising cows for turning them into hamburgers and steaks? Some of us become vegetarians to avoid the mistreatment that livestock must endure. But tigers cannot do the same. All of this is one of the reasons that The Nearly Perfect Zoo can never be fully perfect.
Lions have become nearly extinct, except in the world’s best zoos, where many thrive. The few left in the wild get hunted and otherwise crowded out by civilization. Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo is the best place to let them come back to sustainable numbers.
There are ponds, streams, and lakes where animals can drink or bathe - and alligators, crocodiles, turtles and fish live as nature intends it to be.
Birds by the millions, from all quarters of the Earth, make vees in the sky, sing in the tops of trees in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo. Their feathers are infinitely colorful. And most birds are extremely smart. Certain crows and parrots are at the top of the list. There are individuals who believe birds are descended from a branch of the dinosaurs. Which makes me think there had to be some intelligent dinosaurs behaving like birds.
More animals, both large and small, burrow and climb and dig tunnels. The very small spin webs, make paper-like nests, dig deep holes, and make cocoons on leaves, preparatory to emerging as moths or butterflies. It is a busy place, this zoo. Any animal that you might ever hear of or see lives just the way it was born to live, in trees, caves, nests and hives. It might sound outrageous to some, but there are villages, towns and cities, as well as farms and ranches in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo.
These are inhabited by arguably the most interesting species of all. But to qualify for residence there, there are rules to be obeyed. The intended inhabitants of these dwellings and properties are highly intellectual and for the most they want to be able to think well of themselves. Unfortunately they have developed some bad habits that cannot be carried into a zoo such as Penny and Drew have imagined. The zoo could not survive the habits.
For the species has learned how to organize into camps that bluster and argue until one side or the other attacks with lethal weapons. To make it worse, the groups have created sciences to make the weapons steadily more powerful, until hundreds may be killed in a single instance. No, warfare cannot be permitted in such a zoo.
This species has more than a few other bad habits. The many at the bottom allow the few at the top to keep the wealth even though it is the work by the many that creates all of the wealth owned by the wealthy. As a result many poor live hungry lives. Great numbers in fact have no homes or work. This too cannot be permitted inside our zoo. There must be shelter and food and meaningful work, in a land that shall not be polluted.
The third bad habit involves what some have called race hatred, or, racism. It means giving one ethnic group the advantages of society while depriving the others of the same consideration. The racists have ignored the fact that science has proved that all ethnicities are of one race. The blackest human, the palest human, all humans in between, are one species. And all belong in the zoo, or else none of them belongs.
The fourth and final bad habit concerns a society’s treatment of women. In recent old times women have been slaves, servants, child-adults - anything but equals of men. In the United States they were not even trusted to vote before many women made a stand to demand that right. A woman deserves the freedom to make the same choices that men make. In Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo it must be so.
Now it can be revealed, as you may have figured out on your own: The Nearly Perfect Zoo is another name for the planet Earth, as it could be if the Earth and its animals all were able to live as nature intended. We could view our animal friends on nature hikes and guided tours, or even as recorded on devices to view as many times as we like. And life in our cities and towns and farms would be far more pleasant than at any time in recorded history.
Penny and Drew are hoping each one of you will do everything within your power to see that their zoo becomes reality. They and I thank you for your kind attention as we wish you all a pleasant future and bid a fond adieu. Thanks to you all.
And when you think of a zoo, don’t you love that there is a place with lions and monkeys and elephants; with tigers and bears? Crocodiles and giraffes? Plus all those birds? And that you can visit any day you like?
They are precious, these animals. But do you ever consider this; that they likely all consider themselves prisoners, the ones in ordinary zoos? Isn’t it sad that they must endure life in small enclosures? If you had to live there, I am sure you would get tired of such a place in a short time. Think of it: A bear for instance, born to roam its territory in its own way, without restrictions, but now in a cage with nothing to do all day long. The bear must get lazy and bored. It must dream of home, far away. It must dream of the bears left behind when it was captured and sold. I am here to ask you: What if you could visit another kind of zoo? One that the animals could enjoy?
Penny and her friend Drew felt there ought to be one special, nearly perfect zoo.
In The Nearly Perfect Zoo, the bears have miles and miles in which to roam. Some live with ice and snow. Some live in green forests. There are eight species of bears. All need a territory. Six of these are omnivores. Polar bears are carnivorous, while pandas eat mostly bamboo. Bears stay to themselves, except when mothers are raising cubs. They can outrun humans and they can climb up trees. You would not guess by looking: their nearest relatives are seals.
Then we have the elephants. These giant creatures are intelligent and kind hearted. Maybe not, if you scare them or harm them. Given the chance, they form a loving herd that cares for and protects each member. They will mourn fellow elephants’ deaths as much as humans mourn human deaths. They need lots of room to grow and to forage, for they eat up to eighteen hours per day.
The monkeys in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo live in trees and not jungle gyms. Some monkeys actually live on the ground. There are about two hundred and sixty-four species of monkeys, from Africa, Asia and South America. Different species eat fruit, insects, flowers, leaves, even reptiles. Monkeys are cousins to humans, as are apes.
Apes in The Nearly Perfect Zoo are closer to people than are monkeys. Chimpanzees have the same blood type as humans. In fact, scientifically speaking, humans are considered apes. Gorillas, Chimpanzees, Orangutans, Bonobos, and Gibbons, may be found in Penny’s and Drew’s incredible zoo.
Tigers lie in sunlit glades. When they want some dinner it is their lot to chase down a hapless animal for food. It sounds awful, and it is. But - More awful than raising cows for turning them into hamburgers and steaks? Some of us become vegetarians to avoid the mistreatment that livestock must endure. But tigers cannot do the same. All of this is one of the reasons that The Nearly Perfect Zoo can never be fully perfect.
Lions have become nearly extinct, except in the world’s best zoos, where many thrive. The few left in the wild get hunted and otherwise crowded out by civilization. Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo is the best place to let them come back to sustainable numbers.
There are ponds, streams, and lakes where animals can drink or bathe - and alligators, crocodiles, turtles and fish live as nature intends it to be.
Birds by the millions, from all quarters of the Earth, make vees in the sky, sing in the tops of trees in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo. Their feathers are infinitely colorful. And most birds are extremely smart. Certain crows and parrots are at the top of the list. There are individuals who believe birds are descended from a branch of the dinosaurs. Which makes me think there had to be some intelligent dinosaurs behaving like birds.
More animals, both large and small, burrow and climb and dig tunnels. The very small spin webs, make paper-like nests, dig deep holes, and make cocoons on leaves, preparatory to emerging as moths or butterflies. It is a busy place, this zoo. Any animal that you might ever hear of or see lives just the way it was born to live, in trees, caves, nests and hives. It might sound outrageous to some, but there are villages, towns and cities, as well as farms and ranches in Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo.
These are inhabited by arguably the most interesting species of all. But to qualify for residence there, there are rules to be obeyed. The intended inhabitants of these dwellings and properties are highly intellectual and for the most they want to be able to think well of themselves. Unfortunately they have developed some bad habits that cannot be carried into a zoo such as Penny and Drew have imagined. The zoo could not survive the habits.
For the species has learned how to organize into camps that bluster and argue until one side or the other attacks with lethal weapons. To make it worse, the groups have created sciences to make the weapons steadily more powerful, until hundreds may be killed in a single instance. No, warfare cannot be permitted in such a zoo.
This species has more than a few other bad habits. The many at the bottom allow the few at the top to keep the wealth even though it is the work by the many that creates all of the wealth owned by the wealthy. As a result many poor live hungry lives. Great numbers in fact have no homes or work. This too cannot be permitted inside our zoo. There must be shelter and food and meaningful work, in a land that shall not be polluted.
The third bad habit involves what some have called race hatred, or, racism. It means giving one ethnic group the advantages of society while depriving the others of the same consideration. The racists have ignored the fact that science has proved that all ethnicities are of one race. The blackest human, the palest human, all humans in between, are one species. And all belong in the zoo, or else none of them belongs.
The fourth and final bad habit concerns a society’s treatment of women. In recent old times women have been slaves, servants, child-adults - anything but equals of men. In the United States they were not even trusted to vote before many women made a stand to demand that right. A woman deserves the freedom to make the same choices that men make. In Penny’s and Drew’s Nearly Perfect Zoo it must be so.
Now it can be revealed, as you may have figured out on your own: The Nearly Perfect Zoo is another name for the planet Earth, as it could be if the Earth and its animals all were able to live as nature intended. We could view our animal friends on nature hikes and guided tours, or even as recorded on devices to view as many times as we like. And life in our cities and towns and farms would be far more pleasant than at any time in recorded history.
Penny and Drew are hoping each one of you will do everything within your power to see that their zoo becomes reality. They and I thank you for your kind attention as we wish you all a pleasant future and bid a fond adieu. Thanks to you all.
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