Archives for March 21st, 2004

I saw a commercial yesterday for the Ljubljana Zoo. I visited it a few years ago and I can safely say that it was a depressing experience. I remember seeing a crowd of people throwing Snickers bars to a large, unhealthy-looking brown bear (despite all the signs saying not to do so) and one large feline walking neurotically in a circle over and over again in a cage that was clearly a few sizes too small. I also remember that many of the birds in the zoo had pulled out (or were in the process of pulling out) their own feathers. It seemed more like a mental hospital for animals than a sanctuary.

I should mention that I’ve been spoiled when it comes to zoos. As a child, I grew up close to the world-class Audubon Zoo in New Orleans; when I moved to New York, I also used to visit the glorious Bronx Zoo. Both of them are full of animals whose standard of living is higher than the majority of humans.

As I said before, I was in the Ljubljana Zoo a few years ago so I don’t know if things have changed. I’ll probably go again soon and find out. In the meantime, their commercial listed its Internet address at the end, so I thought I’d check it out. This is what I saw: (or to put it better, didn’t see)

The Ljubljana Zoo Page: A whole lotta nothing going on.

So much for that. Of course, some people would wonder why a cash-strapped zoo would spend money on a primetime television commercial that includes their Internet address, and then not make sure the page is up and running. But not me. I don’t think about things like that at all. I prefer thinking about pointless things, like this: