In this prose-like journal article, Ken Kawata outlines the common history of zoos and circuses, and describes their relationship to the capture and trade of exotic species from Africa and elsewhere. He explains in detail how the trade and transport of animals for public exhibition has been made logistically easier over the years, and shows the evolution of animal exhibitions from relatively crude caged exhibits to more sophisticated displays attempting a more “natural” appearance. The piece encourages readers not to see zoos and circuses as cultural relics, but rather to understand how their present existence is situated historically. Though he recognizes that zoos and circuses are unnatural settings for animals, his opinion is generally pro-zoo and anti-animal rights, describing anti-zoo activism as “extremist.”

In this collection of “random thoughts on the […] dilemmas” that modern zoos and circuses face, Ken Kawata begins by outlining a historical trajectory. Specifically, he begins by describing the means through which many animals were brought into zoos and circuses in the first place: “killing mothers to obtain infant great apes was the modus operandi of the day, a crude process that resulted in high mortality even after their arrival at the zoo; but that was how zoos acquired founders of today’s breeding program. […] Catching animals was only the start; transporting them for thousands of kilometers through rudimentary or non-existent infrastructure presented considerable difficulties.” It is a brutal description that shows the great cost bore by animals in captivity, and their ancestors. Kawata describes how the railroad made zoo and circus transportation exponentially easier, and how “zoos upgraded themselves, projecting the image of conservation centers and adding animal welfare as their mission. Along the way, mainstream zoos took a hostile view on circuses as if to appease the politically savvy animal rights activism.”

As Kawata’s historical exposition winds towards the present, he warns the reader against what he calls “generational chauvinism, which dictates that the current generation is superior to all the past generations; past is all bad, and there is nothing to learn from our predecessors.” This would be a fairly straightforward statement if it wasn’t immediately followed by a strange defense of zoos and animal dealers on the basis of the “demand” for the animals: “Animal dealers are now used as a favorite and convenient whipping boy, although it is self-evident that without demands by zoos there would have been fewer catchers and dealers, and fewer animals sold to fill up exhibits, not so many decades ago.” Though he continues to outline the cruelty of zoos, in descriptions of “hermetically sealed” habitats, resulting in “high mortality,” he decries “anti-captivity activists” for “fully utilizing inflammatory terminology such as animal abuse, cruelty and suffering.” Finally, his full opinion of animal advocates and animal captivity is laid bare: “Extremists are denying the citizens’ right for an access to wild animals in captivity. Circuses are an American heritage; zoos offer citizens the only contact with a wider variety of wild animals in our urban society. In order to counteract such extremism, it appears more effective for both camps to work together for the common goal.” It is a troubling pronouncement, especially in light of the fact that Kawata seems to have such a clear-eyed view of how brute force has been used to imprison zoo and circus animals.

After roundly criticizing animal advocates, Kawata returns to what sounds like a critique of zoos’ presentation of reality: “The expensive, state-of-the-art, ‘naturalistic’ post-Hagenbeck exhibits cannot begin to remind me of the African savanna, streams and lakes. And no matter how well their ‘habitats’ (enclosures and cages) are designed and built, the inhabitants are still in captivity.” The transitions between supporting zoos so as not to appear “generationally chauvinist,” and these descriptions of zoos as places of captivity is jarring to say the least, but perhaps not as jarring as the end of the article, which seemingly romanticizes colonialism and civilization: “Many would agree that those animals receive better medical care than African tribesmen do. Compared to them, zoo animals have all the essentials of comfortable modern life such as heated shelter, food and water. […] In the kitchen of a suburban New York home, as I turn the spigot on and seemingly unlimited supply of water, hot or cold, pours out, I sense something unsettling. […] But nearly every day, when I turn the water on in the kitchen, I cannot erase the image of a Ugandan woman with a water-filled bucket balancing on her head, trudging up the lush, steep hillside for her family.” What Kawata seems to imply is that, in spite of the industry and environmental damage that has been caused to afford us this level of civilization, it is somehow better than the alternative. The author is grateful for the water that flows from his tap, and based on his gratitude, animals in zoos who have lost their access to natural habitats, families, and often more, should be grateful as well.

Original Abstract:
Wild animal trade, including capture and transport of animals from faraway lands to European and American markets for public exhibition, became a well-established business by the nineteenth century. Journey by animals to the destination in rudimentary conditions caused high mortality. This is an area in history that receives scant attention today. Also, husbandry technology in zoos was in dire need of improvement in earlier years. It is easy for us to condemn the work of yesteryear by using today’s prism, an act called “Presentism”. Instead, we should review the deed of our predecessors in historical perspective; judging them by today’s moral standard will not get us anywhere. In early day America, traveling menageries first introduced the public to captive wild animals before zoos developed as civic institutions in increasingly urban societies. During the era, the division of circuses, menageries and zoos often blurred. This essay attempts to present a holistic review of wild animal exhibition operations including traveling menageries, circuses and zoos, focusing on selected topics from the eighteenth century through the middle of the last century. Today, even with tremendous contributions having been made, zoos still face considerable challenges in terms of wildlife conservation.