Abstract
David Grazian’s most recent book adds to his reputation as a master observer of the stagecraft involved in the creation of authenticity. Previously, Grazian examined the illusions and rituals behind urban nightlife and blues clubs. In American Zoo, he turns his sharp ethnographer’s eye to the social elements of metropolitan zoos. Drawing on four years of fieldwork, where he did everything from shoveling manure to bathing armadillos, along with conversations with zoo professionals and visits to zoos around the country, Grazian reveals how zoos create an experience of authentic animals.
Over 180 million people visit American zoos each year—the American Zoological Association reports that zoo attendance exceeds that of all major sporting events combined. These visitors expect to see animals behaving naturally in natural-looking settings. Thus, the question of what “nature” means runs throughout the chapters of American Zoo. As Grazian explains, nature is a product of human imagination. We selectively construct and define aspects of the world as “natural.” We then attach meaning and sentiment, calling it “pristine,” “majestic,” and “untouched.” Yet, human activity has always shaped what we consider natural. We have remodeled landscapes, as we did to improve the view on the American side of Niagara Falls, or transformed them, through population growth, urbanization, agriculture, logging, and pollution. In this era known as the Anthropocene, human activities constitute the greatest force of environmental change. As “living museums that chronicle how we humans make sense of the natural world” (p.3), zoos highlight both the power and persistence of the nature/culture distinction and its inadequacy. Zoos reveal what Grazian calls the culture of nature, or the ways we attach meaning, symbolic value, and sentiment to the environment and animal life.
Although no zoo visitor would mistake a pen or enclosure for an animal’s natural habitat, visitors nevertheless expect to see environments that approximate those habitats. Moreover, zoos’ combined interests of scientific accuracy and education make realistic environments a priority. In the context of housing live animals, however, portraying nature calls on the best efforts of architects, landscape designers, horticulturalists, engineers, veterinarians, and animal caregivers. Grazian calls these experts the “nature makers.” They employ stagecraft techniques to resolve the dilemmas that come with exhibiting nature. For instance, the nature makers must manipulate sight lines to enable visitors to forget, if temporarily, the urban environment that surrounds most American zoos. They must create authentic-looking landscapes, even though the trees and plants indigenous to a species’ habitat might not survive in a North American city or could harbor microbes or pests that pose hazards to animals. In addition, the realities of animal behavior can undermine attempts to provide an ecologically accurate habitat. Species such as elephants, orangutans, and gorillas routinely tear up vast swaths of vegetation in their natural environments, making a thriving landscape impossible to maintain in captivity. Moreover, animal enclosures must accommodate regular cleaning. The nature makers respond to these challenges by simulating the rainforest, the polar icecaps, and the savannahs. If tropical rainforest plants will not survive in Philadelphia, Detroit, or Denver, nature makers might substitute tropical-looking local plants that will last the winter. And if the animals will damage the landscape through their behavior, zoo designers have a solution for that, too. Orangutans at the San Diego Zoo and langurs in Los Angeles live among steel trees, botanically accurate down to the knobby bark and insect holes, yet durable—and even fireproof.
Nature making also involves providing the animals with behavioral enrichment, along with sensory and mental stimulation. If captivity brings any advantages, they include a reliable food supply and safety from predators. These come with costs, however, boredom and limited mobility among them. The polar bear in a setting that accurately simulates the arctic might have nothing to do. Polar bears, and other predatory species, cannot exercise their natural behavior in captivity. Moreover, most visitors would object to that degree of authenticity. Nature makers respond by providing alternative ways for animals to experience some of their natural behaviors. For polar bears, that comes through frozen fish and blood popsicles. For gorillas, who would spend most of their time foraging for food in the wild, it means scattering breakfast cereal and raisins in their enclosures. In the zoo, simulated nature encourages natural behavior. Primates swing on indestructible fire hoses instead of easily shredded vines or ropes. Big cats tear up phone books and stalk empty beer kegs. Zookeepers provide sensory stimulation for some species through manipulating temperature, sound, and scent. As it turns out, tigers appreciate Calvin Klein’s “Obsession,” and snow leopards go for “Old Spice.”
In moving from the publicly visible areas of the zoo to behind the scenes, Grazian explores the dynamics of the workforce, long the “domain of tough, manly men like livestock wranglers and ex-cons” (p.240) but now feminized. As in many other feminized occupations, especially those involving caregiving, zookeepers receive stunningly low wages, despite having college degrees and extensive training. Grazian reveals how the keepers collectively construct symbolic boundaries between nature and culture through their work. They define the dirty, physical labor performed outdoors as closer to nature. They see hands-on animal care as morally distinct from, and preferable to, the work of administrators, zoo executives, and board members, all of whom purportedly lack a true sense of stewardship over the animals.
Readers who question the morality of zoos and the welfare of animals in captivity will appreciate Grazian’s treatment of these issues. He points out that the animals currently living in all accredited American zoos number just over 750,000. Yet, over ten billion land animals are slaughtered for food each year in the United States, after spending their lives in “conditions far more abusive than almost any animal living in any AZA-accredited zoo in the United States” (p.218). Grazian argues that zoos generate disapproval because of their public status. Unlike slaughterhouses, zoos sell tickets for admission. They open their doors to even their harshest critics.
Grazian’s elegant prose, combined with his wit, his eye for detail, and his ear for dialogue, makes for engaging reading. By offering a rich understanding of the culture of nature, American Zoo encourages readers to consider our priorities and assumptions in the age of the Anthropocene.