Image courtesy of Their Turn
Picture yourself, wandering through the zoo, admiring the animals that have been brought together for your viewing pleasure. As you meander down through the halls, you see a polar bear, displaying a peculiar behavior. This polar bear is walking forwards three steps, stopping, and reversing his steps. Over, and over again. You sit down and ponder on this animals behavior, “Why is this polar bear acting insane? It’s definitely not dancing” is a possible thought that might occur. Do you ever really figure out what actually happened though? Possibly. Maybe you go home and do some research but more likely than not you leave whatever you saw at the zoo–at the zoo. What I described the polar bear to be doing actually happened in real life at a zoo in Argentina, and I’m sure many other places but here is a video from this zoo showing this polar bear’s behavior:
People often see things without knowing what’s really going on behind closed doors–or in this case, behind transparent windows where everything is exposed, yet we still have no idea how unnatural these animals habitats are. In the first image above of a man filming a polar bear swimming underwater, the water looks crystal blue, theirs sunlight reflecting from the surface, and overall a peaceful looking photograph. It just makes you want to be their to experience this incredible creature (the polar bear, that is). This is what media does. Media blinds their audience from the reality of the situation. For example, in the video of the polar bear walking back and forth, first thought is most likely, “why is he doing that?” Well, why IS the polar bear doing that? Let’s see what the media has to say about that. According to NY Daily News after his ‘best friend’ died this polar bear essentially “slipped into a depression, said experts.” But who are in fact the experts? What actually defines a person to be an expert? What kind of expert are they, a depression polar bear expert? It is completely unknown. I constantly find myself reading news articles and when there is a point trying to be proven (a point that is most likely masking the real issue going on), instead of stating who actually said the quote and what kind of authority that person has (as in CEO, for example), they result in letting the audience know that experts indeed stated this fact. Obviously when a person sees the word ‘expert’ he or she has already automatically registered that this is professional and accurate evidence. This is another perfect example of how media tries to hide what is actually happening and making their readers believe to be perceived as the truth.
Going back to the real issue of the polar bear’s frantic actions, the pertinent matter is that this is not a natural act and there is clearly something wrong with him. But, before I continue I thought I should mention a little more background information on this polar bear. He is 29 year old male named Arturo who lives at the Mendoza Zoo in Argentina. And just as a side note, polar bears typically live to be 25-30 years old. Now back to the story: other than NY Daily News stating that his unusual performances are a sign of depression, they also mentioned how the weather is scorching hot at 95 degrees. Although that is very alarming, I first have to mention that when I checked two other media sources, they said that it was 104 degrees. A nine degree difference is definitely something to be concerned about. So what is the media trying to portray? Are they trying to make the environment not seem as hot by reducing it down to 95 degrees, are they trying to make it seem hotter and more drastic by boosting it up to 104 degrees, or are one of these temperatures the actual true temperature and the other media source(s) is just simply incorrect? It’s so impossible to know what the truth is when media brings out stories. It definitely makes it harder to decipher if the media is trying to be more dramatic than necessary. Unfortunately, it is nearly impossible to know how much Arturo was suffering from the heat, but regardless, polar bears shouldn’t be in environments that are that hot and he is without a doubt in an incredibly unhealthy living situation.
NY Daily News then goes on to describing the terrible living conditions Arturo is in and how heartbreaking it is. How “he has limited access to water pools and has no contact with other bears.” How he lives in a concrete den where he “paces around it nonstop, burying his face in his paws and sprawling out on the floor, refusing to move.” They mention in great detail, and repetitively, how there is a campaign to help free Arturo, the “Worlds Saddest Animal.” Arturo wasn’t classified as the worlds saddest polar bear, or even bear, but as the worlds saddest animal. That is a massive statement to say that he is the saddest animal on this planet. But, it gets the readers thinking and feeling awful for this unfortunate and unloved polar bear.
Image courtesy of Their Turn
Image courtesy of Their Turn
The media knows how to grab and tug at their audience’s hearts, which is why it is so often that people are swayed by what the media has to say, while the truth continues to hide behind the looking glass.
Say NO To Zoos! 