Cultural Relativism?

Beijing Zoo

We visited the Beijing zoo and aquarium last Sunday. Before setting out, we read the relevant entry in our guidebook, which said something to the effect of, "though undergoing renovations, the Beijing Zoo facilities will probably anger most animal lovers, while others will find solace in the nearby more up-to-date aquarium." It was a nice day, though, so we decided to brave the crowds in the hopes of finding the conditions of the zoo improved since the 2007 publication date of our book.

As it was a sunny Sunday afternoon before a national holiday, however, the zoo was absolutely packed with families toting their little emperors and empresses around. Unlike in the United States, where aquariums and zoos are more of a teaching tool for children, in China they appear to serve more as a backdrop for photographs of small children. Also, the guidebook description proved to be incredibly accurate, in that the conditions of the zoo proved to be extremely sub-par.

The bear and tiger enclosures were decaying concrete pits with exposed rebar and little foliage. The bird and monkey houses looked as though they had not been cleaned in weeks, and the elephants seemed to suffer from dry skin and foot rot. Everywhere you looked, children banged their hands on the enclosures to get the attention of the animals, and not a docent could be found. We even saw one parent park their child in the "magnifying bubble" of a shark tank, a perch clearly labeled with a bright yellow sign that said "Do not sit in the magnifying bubble!"

The aquarium was surprisingly modern. You could buy sardines to feed to the eels, you could play in an arcade situated next to the tidal pool, and you could patronize a gigantic gift shop that seemed better suited to FAO Schwartz than a scientific endeavor. The marine mammal show took a page out of Sea World's playbook, as you can see in the video below.
Best of all, however, was a giant mural depicting humpback wales engaged in a cartoon-bubble conversation about the dangers of oceanic pollution. Notably absent from this display was any mention of rumors indicating that China regularly dumps its trash in the Pacific Ocean.

So after seeing the conditions of the zoo, the arcade aquarium, and watching parents let their kids run amok like puppies with opposable thumbs, we were somewhat soured on the experience and headed for the exit. But as we were walking out, we saw a man pick up a piece of trash and hurl it at a napping Siberian Tiger. After everything we had seen that day, this behavior infuriated us.

Was our indignation an issue of cultural relativism run amok? I think not, given that prisoners in Beijing Prison #1 are made to take care of one fish and one plant as part of their confinement, which suggests to me that the lives and conditions of non-human living things are valued in China. The Beijing zoo, on the other hand, seems incapable of caring for its charges and educating its patrons on proper decorum. And its embarrassing.

While I'm not an animal rights activist, I think it's a simple maxim of human existence that people should not be allowed to keep animals unless they are willing to devote the resources required to take care of them. And though the Beijing zoo does a great job with pandas, the rest of the animals are getting short shrift. So maybe its time for a little public education, some additional funding for docents, and for the Beijing zoo to close down while it gets its act together.