Garden of captives : creating a place for sanctuary

Abstract

Previously, people elsewhere in the world laboured under the misconception that animals in Africa wandered freely across the vast open spaces of the African plains. However, in reality, as humans (elephants' greatest contenders of space) have encroached upon large areas of their natural habitats, countless animals are now forced to live within the confines of the controlled spaces of zoos and nature reserves. Despite many of these reserves being quite large, the movement and freedom of these animals are still restricted by 'human boundaries, human considerations and human priorities'. The concept of the circle of life, as described in the Lion King and explained by French (2010:5), and the endless African landscape and bushveld enjoyed by many species in the wild, is in truth continuously shrinking. Humans have always embraced a strong sense of biophilia which drives them to seek diverse life forms when their own immediate spaces become too anthropocentrically homogenous and monotonous. Wild animals fascinate people; they reveal unknown worlds occupied by these diverse beings. They pose timeless questions of identity, confronting or strengthening life's beliefs (Acampora, 2010). The initial formation of zoos represented the age-old belief that humans were granted power over other creatures on earth. Zoos represent living catalogues of our own fears, fixations and presumptions of supremacy. They reflect the manner in which we perceive animals as well as ourselves; our longing for both pleasure and diversion for our own desires, no matter the cost to or implications on the animals themselves. They show our longing for the wildness we have lost within ourselves; our instinct to both respect nature and control it; our deepest wish to care for and protect species even as we destroy and pollute their habitats, forcing them into oblivion. All of this is on display in the garden of captives (French 2010:24). The few elephants in the National Zoological Gardens in Pretoria were once wild animals from Zimbabwe and the Kruger National Park. These are now forced to live in a confined space with no interaction with other wildlife, and the vast landscape of this once great circle of life. It is therefore of imperative importance that an environment be created as close as possible to their natural habitat. This would be of benefit to both elephants and humans, where safety and security from poaching and human conflict would be provided to preserve these remarkable creatures.

In die verlede het mense in ander gedeeltes van die w?reld vooropgestelde idees gehad dat diere in Afrika vry was om rond te wandel in die wye ope spasies van die horison en verder. Die realiteit is egter dat mense, olifante se grootste mededingers vir spasie, so 'n groot deel van die kontinent ingeneem het en bewoon dat 'n onbepaalde aantal diere gedwing word om te woon in die beperkte, beheerde spasies van natuurreservate en dieretuine. Alhoewel 'n aantal van hierdie natuurreservate dikwels groot spasies beslaan, word die diere se beweging en vryheid steeds beperk deur 'menslike grense, menslike oorweginge, en menslike prioriteite'. Die konsep van die sirkel van die lewe, soos wat dit in die rolprent "The Lion King" beskryf word, en deur French (2010: 5) verduidelik word, en die eindelose bosveld wat deur alle spesies in die wildernis, is inderwaarheid voortdurend besig om te krimp. Die mensdom se historiese omhelsing van biofilie dien as motivering om diverse lewensvorme uit te soek wanneer mense se eie onmiddelike spasies te antroposentries homogeen, staties en eentonig begin raak. Wilde diere fassineer mense; hulle openbaar ongekende w?relde wat deur hierdie div?rse wesens bewoon word. Hulle stel tydlose identiteitsvrae wat lewensoortuiginge kan bevestig of uitdaag (Acampora, 2010). Die aanvanklike vorming van dieretuine verteenwoordig die eeue-oue oortuiging dat mense mag oor ander wesens op aarde gegun is. Dieretuine verteenwoordige lewendige katalogusse van ons vrese, fiksasies en aannames van meerderwaardigheid. Hulle reflekteer die wyse waarop ons diere, sowels as onsself, sien; ons verlange na beide plesier en afleiding vir ons eie begeertes, maak nie saak wat die koste of implikasies vir die diere self is nie. Hulle wys hulle verlange na die wildernis wat ons binne onsself verloor het; ons instink om die natuur beide te respekteer en beheer; ons diepste wens om spesies lief te h? en beheer terwyl ons terselfdertyd hulle habitat vernietig en besoedel en die inwoners daarvan in die vergetelheid in dwing. Dit is wat ten toon gestel word in die tuin van gevangenes (French 2010: 24). Die paar olifante wat tans woon in die Nasionale Dieretuin in Pretoria, eens wilde diere oorspronlik afkomstig van Zimbabwe en die Kruger Nasionale Park, word nou gedwing om te woon in 'n klein beperkte spasie by die dieretuin, met geen interaksie met die ander wild en die wye landskap van hierdie eens grootse sirkel van die lewe nie.