Roger Williams Zoo

Providence Rhode Island is home to a very special zoo. We were there today and amidst the large array of animals from around the world that were housed in natural settings we came upon two especially noteworthy and memorable insights I'd like to tell you about.

The first was visual. We were in the African Jungle sector and had just left the flat plain like area where three full sized bull elephants who were just hanging out together around a huge tree stump and it's hugely elaborate pattern of exposed roots sticking out in all directions. The stump and roots were not connected to the ground at all and the elephants would take turns shoving it around this way and that using the center of their head just above the trunk to push.

The next viewing station revealed four towering giraffes. These guys were busy chewing bark off trees or chewing vegetation with their 18 inch tongues. We watched them move about for several moments. Then all of sudden, I noticed another dimension of what was there before us. One Giraffe leaned his head over to check something out on the back of another giraffe. The curve of his neck formed into a perfect arch and he held it there for the longest time. His tall thin front legs connected one side of the arch to the ground while the rear legs of the second giraffe connected the other side to the ground in a perfectly formed arched doorway opening. Positioned exactly in the center of that arch but quite far in the distance was one of those elephants we had seen earlier. It was an amazing sight picture composed and balanced by mother nature.

The second insight was to our understanding of this zoo in different terms. There was this employee who was making a presentation and answering questions about the animals. He was telling us story after story about the condition of the animals. Many of them had arthritic conditions for which they had to take medications. That included the cheetah we had seen who we thought looked so sleek and athletic. He explained how their teeth would wear down to nothing and were they in the jungle they would starve, but here they have specially prepared foods (special? It probably was Gerber's mashed carrots). He recounted all the other chronic conditions that afflicted the population. Then when my wife asked why we were unable to find the polar bear she was told he had died.

This place was sounding more and more like an Assisted Living Facility for animals. All it was missing was the putting green.