The Zoo

Zoologico de Puerto Vallarta: right from the first night in our hotel room, we spotted the sign, neatly affixed to the bottom of the rare street signs here in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. Positive comments trickled in during the week about one of the many ways to spend one's time, and money here. As my girlfriend and I both had a penchant for wildlife, and our place within nature, it seemed a natural fit. My expectations involved some childhood memories of the Calgary Zoo, with animals behind cages, and us walking methodically past one exhibit to another, and the Vancouver Aquarium beseeched with protestors rallying for the release of Orca Whales 10 years ago. The lack of enlightening motivation may have been the main reason it took us a few days to actually get there.

Our journey began innocently enough. I feel it necessary at this point though to also mention that the roads in PV have been intentionally designed, and built, as if it were a turn of the last century pueblo, substituting black pavement with rocks and concrete. Millions upon millions of rocks turned on a side to reveal a maximum amount of surface area, with concrete to fill in the rest. They did provide the courtesy of two rows of rocks anchored in single file, supposedly for car tires to follow. For motorcyclists, this makes for some interesting driving around town and a definite need for constant attention.

Rocky roads transform into smooth highway, if only for a brief moment. The 10 km ride from Old Puerto Vallarta out to the curvy, pot-hole ridden highway betrays its seemingly short distance. Each 'hoyo', or hole at times inherits it's secondary spanish translation: pit. The motorcycle would have been destroyed, or at least suffered serious blows had it been haphazardly directed through these pitfalls, but fortunately bike, and two riders made it to the zoo on time. Our arrival is met with an eventual request to move the motorcycle further away from the entrance gate, and a male worker, obviously forced to work admissions for the afternoon, and a bit confused as to his duties, no doubt panicking while faced with a couple Whiteys from Canada.

Things seemed like any other zoo I'd been to, but only for a moment. Bonnie was greeted with a victim of a brush-in with the toilet bowl, and summoned the courage to take an innappropriate photo opportunity with it's corpse. Bugs down here are slightly larger than the ones back home.

We are suddenly ushered into a world of immediate connection with animals of our dreams, and whisk away the pragmatic thoughts that this is simply a zoo from our childhood, a time bereft of lawyers, animal welfare, bacteria and 21st century rules. Instead, we get all of our pre-pubescent desires aptly met without all the parental supervision that may have come with it in an earlier day. A zoo worker finger-waves at us linguistically in Spanish and proceeds to tell us in English how to feed the ostriches. Each guest is provided the option to purchase a bag of food full of instructions on which type of food to feed which type of animal. Carrots, peanuts, corn, pellets, and cookies (bread) are all included on the side of the bag, but each animal we encounter seems to fall outside of the statute of limitations firmly set out on the bag. We worry about our behaviour until finally we elect to simply feed the animals whatever food they like. Horribly irresponsible, and totally fun. I overrreact. It's the group of 3 Mexican women that taunt the animals behind the cages and gets them all riled up that is horribly irresponsible. But, I guess it is all a measure of degrees. Somehow, the trust we created between ourselves, and the animals, worked out fine. I love animals, and as one, value our ability to be the patrons of every other living thing on the planet.

The question is: do zoos help, or hinder this ability?

The Zoologico de Puerto Vallarta currently sits on 5 hectares of land lush with vegetation growing up from the deep ravines. It was started 12 years ago by Martin Castaneda in memorial to his mother, who loved animals. It soon became an obsession, and to keep the operations going, he was forced to sell off his successful American businesses. Plans include expanding the zoo to encompass all 62 hectares of land owned by the Castaneda family by the year 2018. I envisioned a park without fences with animals free to roam of their own volition; time will tell if this is merely a dream.

A definite criticism of the place is the inability for the larger animals such as the giraffe and leopard to get their much needed muscles moving and exercise in the open. The custodian of the park mentions to us that the incessant pacing back and forth of the large cats are its attempts at just that: in a smaller enclosure the animals seem to adjust, and get their needs met regardless. The park has a reputation as a successful breeder of endangered animals, as well as saving others from mistreatments in a circus, as one example. We were told of a hippo purchased for $5000 only after the zoo's custodian incessantly begged the circus owner to give him up. As a 100% privately owned enterprise without any government assistance, their growth centres around the health and protection of the animals, and expanding as the money comes in. The operation has been in the red for all but 2 years in it's history.

As a means for the operators to assist their operating costs, visitors can treat themselves to a once-in-a-lifetime experience: to hold a baby jaguar. Depending on which animals are deemed suitable for this interaction at the time of your arrival, you may be treated to a one-on-one moment with a baby lion, tiger, jaguar, lemur and monkey. A tricky dilemma arises, and one that pits business against nature, human emotions against animal needs.

I believe it is crucial for every generation to have the opportunity for close contact with other animals. It is a healthy interaction that, if monitored, can lead to respect, a sense of connection, and patronage. I don't think the argument is about zoos or no zoos. I think the argument is about preservation, and maintenance of the natural world. If zoos are assisting in that goal, then so be it. There are obvious detractors, but as long as the animals welfare is being considered, and the operators are in tune with their needs, I see no problem with them. Zoos cannot bear the brunt of all ill will towards human's relationship to nature. We must look at them as one piece of the puzzle, one part of the answer for keeping this wonderful world, and the astounding array of animals on it, alive and well.

Our understanding of the natural world has grown leaps and bounds in even the last 20 years, and we continue to search for ways to improve the welfare of animals, and ensure their continued survival. Whichever way you look at it, these operations require money to continue, and if the preservation of wildlife is an important issue to you, then well-managed zoos keen on animal welfare are just one way for you to show your support.