For my weekly photo challenge: Room, I am using photos from a recent school trip to our Columbus Zoo. I love animals and nature. Zoos make me rather sad. Rarely do I see an animal and think, “Wow, is that a happy animal!” And while they teach us about animals and might bring more awareness to conservation, I can’t help but be sad. There are some horrific zoos in the world and ours is supposed to be one of the best. Still, it is sad. I think if the animals had a choice, they rather be doing what they are supposed to be doing, out in nature. I don’t think they think they have it good and are being protected by poachers or hunters or even their natural predators. I think they think, “Is that all there is….?” I think they think that their room is confining and limited. Imagine if my mother kept me locked in my room (as great as my room was) for my entire life. Not a life at all.
ArtBea 
I know what you mean. Even in the best zoos the animals are kept in unnatural conditions – lions in solitude pacing in pens, half a dozen elephants in a paddock when they should be roaming through dozens of countries in Africa and worst of all polar bears in the heat, and brown bears sadly swinging their heads as they pace up and down, up and down. 😦
I prefer wildlife parks where the animals do appear to have slightly more space.
Lovely treatment of the excellent shots btw.
Jude xx
Well said! The tiger was pacing back and forth. The orangutan was very sad looking. There is a zoo park near here, have never gone. It’s about an hour away. They also built a new thing downtown here. Betty White was at the opening. It is supposed to be more free to be you and me. I haven’t gone yet, as I am sure it is very busy.
Thank you for the compliment!
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He looks really sad the gorilla 😦 it’s an amazing pic but very saf
Thanks. He almost seemed like he was trying to tell us how sad he was. Leaning up against the window. Poor guy.
that is really sad, its why i dont go to zoos ofen it at all x
Me neither. I went as a chaperone for my son’s 3rd grade class. At least it was fun to spend time with the with the kids, and it was a really pretty day.
These pictures really do give the feeling of room ~ at least in the sense of “a room”. Very nicely done!
I haven’t been to a zoo in years for just that reason ~ sad. The SF zoo did make some changes that afford some of the animals a lot more space so much more interesting for them. The gorillas at SF zoo are in an open area and the silver back and his family are healthy and having babies but still not the open jungle! SF had to let their elephants go to an elephant park where they are free to roam around a large area with other elephants to interact with. Although SF isn’t as hot as Ohio, the Polar bears spend a lot of time in the cool water. A couple of years ago some drunks were teasing a female tiger and she jumped out of her grotto and killed one of them and maimed one. She chased one, as well. She was killed. Very sad.
I realize the large zoos are conserving species and some are not in the wild any longer but it is sad to see them confined in cages, grottos and small enclosures. Great pictures! Thank you for sharing! xoxox
Stupid people. They shouldn’t have killed the tiger. She was just abiding by natural selection!!!
I am sure we are in total agreement about the zoos.
THanks for liking the photos.
All with a room – great relationships to the challenge word.
it’s a tough dilemma (sp?) — i can get really very a lotta SAD when i think of hunting to extinction: big cats, elephants, anything! and that (fortunately/unfortunately) perhaps the only way to preserve many species is in man-made habitats. there are large preserves here and there. i passed … oh, maybe 50+ buffalo in a field earlier this week. but yes, i think as you, the spaces often aren’t large nor varied enough.
whirled environmental (and many other types) problem #1 (and #2, &): TOO MANY PEOPLE. (read “last and first men” by olaf stapledon)
Too many people! For sure! And most of them are jerks.