Zoos are a place where a lot of people get excited to see so many different species in one place. Others don’t believe that zoos should even exist. I believe that zoos should exist and am always excited to go, but I also feel sad at the same time.
Animals should be left in the wild where they belong. Seeing them stuck in a zoo with barely any space to roam is what makes my heart heavier every time I visit. I understand that a lot of those animals, at least I hope, are in the zoo for one basic reason. That reason is that they are no longer able to live in the wild. This could have been from some severe injury or were simply born in the zoo. I try and keep this in my mind when I go visit the zoo, but it’s still hard to see those animals locked up especially when some of them are obviously sad.
Even though some of the animals in the zoo aren’t happy, I keep reminding myself that these animals are here for a reason and not just attractions. Being able to see all these different species is what makes the zoo exciting for me. I always bring my camera with me so I can capture the feelings of these exotic animals.
Taking good photographs of these animals is very challenging because of the fences or dirty glasses that are in front of the exhibits and all of the people that tend to walk in front of you. My camera usually focuses on these obstacles instead of what I actually want to take a photograph of making it hard to get the perfect shot. I took almost four hundred photographs during this trip to the Philly Zoo, but only got around 15 good shots. Within those 15 photographs, I believe I captured the feelings of some of the animals and others their exotic nature.
Though I am only able to take photographs of these types of animals only in a zoo, my dream is to be able to go out into these species natural habitats and capture their true nature. I believe that I can help people realize that what they are doing to the world is heartbreaking, but can be fixed. The photographs that I dream of taking will show the world that there is still beauty in this world and it can all be saved.
