At the Lujan Zoo, on the outskirts of Buenos Aires, visitors can do
much more than admire wild animals from a distance. They can ride on the
backs of wild lions, feed tigers or hand-feed cheetahs.
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| Photo: The Wide Wide World |
You couldn’t pay me enough to get up close and personal with a
full-grown lion, but apparently there are people out there who can’t
wait to get into a cage with it, and at the Lujan Zoo
they get to do just that. Daredevils can feed grapes to the grizzly
bears or even allow them to use their tongues to pick up the fruits from
between their lips, pet elephants, ride on the back of tigers and
whatever else you can think of that involves interacting with wild
animals. I know what you’re thinking, all this is an accident waiting to
happen, but you’ll be surprised to learn that ever since the zoo opened
in 1994, there hasn’t been a single accident. In fact, zoo keepers are
so confident nothing is going to go wrong that they don’t require
visitors to sign any waivers before entering the animals’ cages, and
they even allow small children.
But what makes wild predators act so tame around human strangers? Many
have argued that animals at Lujan are sedated so they don’t pose a
danger to visitors, but zoo representatives have denied these
accusations, saying it would be impossible to constantly drug the
animals because they would soon become sick and die. According to Jorge
Semino, the zoo’s director, the secret lies in his unique methods of
raising the animals, which involve constant interaction with people. The
big felines receive the most attention, and as soon as new cubs are
born, animal trainers start work on diminishing violent instincts
associated with competition for food. They make sure they all have
access to the mother’s teets and that nursing time is distributed
equally. As they grow up, trainers start using vocal commands to teach
the felines to recognize the difference between their hands and the meat
they are fed. Dogs are also used as an example. Semino says the big
cats witness as the canines gently and obediently interact with humans,
and this serves as an example for them.
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| Photo: The Wide Wide World |
“The only way is to raise them from when they are babies and educate
them with love, affection and respect, and they will return the same,”
the Lujan Zoo director said about his methods. Juan José Bianchini, a
biologist who works with the animals at the unique zoo says “the early
learning causes the animals to lose their aggressiveness in a total and
irreversible way. They learn to live with other species and lose the
aggressive drives which are primarily related to the competition for
food.” Animals at Lujan are fed constantly to keep them satiated and
prevent them from even thinking of visitors as food.
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| Photo: The Wide Wide World |
According to statements made by representatives of the Lujan Zoo, many
of the animals there are sick undernourished house pets people bring in
illegally. Because Buenos Aires is so close to the Brazilian rain
forest, exotic animals are sold as pets all the time, but people get
bored with them, so they end up at the zoo, where they are fed, cured
and trained to act friendly around humans.
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| Photo: Matheus |
All of the above would have you believe that Lujan Zoo is a wonderful
place where man and beast can interact peacefully, but not everyone
believes that. The Born Free Foundation, an international animal rights
group, has asked authorities to investigate the practices at the
Argentinian zoo, stating it exploits animal welfare for commercial gain.
The online petition they launched against this place, a few years ago,
read “No one wants to see animals forced to behave in ways which are
abnormal and degrading to them, and no one wants to see Luján Zoo (or
any zoo) putting its visitors at risk.” Martha Gutiérrez, the president
of the Association for the Defence of the Rights of Animals, also said
the zoo’s intention of pacifying wild animals was misguided: “I think it
gives a terrible message to the public about the relationship between
animals and people. These are wild animals, and are not meant to be
under our control.”
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| Photo: Jesse Akin |
Jorge Semino said he respects these animal right groups and the work
they do, and admits Lujan Zoo may not be the ideal place for wild
animals: “We know that this is not the ideal place for an animal to
live, but many zoos, including ours, give protection to animals that
were abandoned or born in captivity. An animal born in captivity and who
has spent many years in contact with humans can not be released into
the wild. They don’t know how to survive on their own.”
The Internet is full of photos of people petting and feeding all kinds
of wild beats at Lujan Zoo, and while some speculate the animals are way
too calm around people and they must be sedated, there are others who
say that although the only fitting home for them is the wild, animals
here are treated much better than at other zoos around the world.
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