Andrew Westoll–the Toronto professor, storyteller, and award-winning writer, whose new book is “Born to be
Wild: Reckoning with the Zoo in the age of Extinction”—allows that when he began working on the book, he didn’t hold a strong opinion about zoos, but was partly spurred by his young son playing with Noah’s Ark toys one day, explaining to his Dad that the animals were headed to the Zoo. Jumping off from this reversal of the Noah’s narrative, we discuss how people who consider themselves animal lovers typically hold vehement viewpoints about zoos—decidedly pro- or anti–rarely landing anywhere in the middle of that continuum. Widening out, I indicate that I squarely occupy anti- territory, acknowledging that one of my chief beefs is zoos’ claims about their work in “conservation”—and have periodically made on-air statements about that which could probably sound dismissive, maybe even snide. (That’s probably because I have been dismissive and snide.) Westoll explains that he didn’t write the book to casually spotlight the fundamental flaws of zoos. Rather, he was interested in focusing on several highly-regarded zoos, engaging in some serious globetrotting to visit them, and then using the locations of those zoological parks to explore the complex issues at hand—starting with conservation. His endeavors in that realm yielded reporting that, on the one hand, underscored the notion that zoo conservation amounts to baloney—their efforts, including the breeding and births of new animal residents, which won’t be released into the wild, won’t make a material difference in the way conservation ostensibly aims to. On the other hand, his deep dive into zoos revealed some top-tier operations that are pursuing field conservation and/or reflect a truly science-based sensibility. Prompted by a listener call asking about the reputation of zoos and aquariums in the Tampa area, I ask Westoll to provide a list of the top 3-4 zoos, based on all the research and reporting he did for “Born to be Wild.” Not an easy question for him, clearly, but his response:
(1) Lincoln Park Zoo, in Chicago.
(2) Detroit Zoo, in Detroit. (With a major shout-out to Ron Kagan, the former director, who pioneered recognizing elephants should not be displayed in zoos, relocating Detroit’s elephants to the PAWS sanctuary in Northern California.)
(3) Woodland Park Zoo, in Seattle.
(4) Copenhagen Zoo, in Copenhagen, Denmark
This part of the conversation, particularly the portion about Ron Kagan and his seismic decision to remove elephants from the Detroit Zoo, naturally segued into what Westoll found was the current, prevailing perspective about elephants-in-zoos, over the course of his journey (figurative and literal) through the zoo cosmos This, in turn, led to Westoll making the timely connection to the landmark legal battle the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) was fighting a day or two earlier in Hawaii on behalf of Mari and Vaigal, two Asian elephants who’ve been confined to the Honolulu Zoo for decades. As part of their quest to free the pair, NhRP filed a common law writ of habeas corpus to recognize the elephants’ right to bodily liberty and order their transfer to an accredited sanctuary. A decision from the high court is pending.
ALSO: I spoke with Kim Gronemeyer, vice-president of Florida Voices for Animals, the presenting sponsor of the Tampa Bay Veg Fest—loosely translated: the organizers of the event—which was then fast approaching: Slated to take place Saturday, Nov. 11, from 11am to 5pm, at Perry Harvey Sr. Park, in Tampa. Noting this marked the 14th annual TB Veg Fest, she outlines most of this year’s activities and offerings: There’ll be no shortage of food, including 100 (not a typo!) food vendors, food demos, and food samples…a stellar slate of speakers, among them, Renee King-Sonnen (“Confessions of a Vegan Cattle Rancher”), James Scott (part of the Fest’s environment panel, he’ll address Florida Black Bear Conservation–& the bear hunt), a pair of M.D.s, et al. The Tampa Bay Veg Fest is enormously family friendly, with a schedule in the Kids Fun Zone running five hours, including Kids Yoga, Facepainting, a Hula Hoop contest, and a Scavenger Hunt. Somehow, Veg Fest presents several more attractions (intrigued by Ask A Vegan Expert? Stop on by…). All Veg Fest info can be found here: https://www.tampabayvegfest.com/
COMEDY CORNER: Ivan Decker’s “Dinosaurs” (https://ivan-decker.squarespace.com/)
MUSIC: Rebekah Pulley’s “Talking Animals Theme,” instrumentals
NAME THAT ANIMAL TUNE: We didn’t play “Name That Animal Tune” today.
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