It's time to free Storybook Animals (Opinion Point of View)

2008-04-15

Dan Brown, The London Free Press

Whatever the future of Storybook Gardens, whether as a year-round operation or a seasonal proposition, one thing is clear: Its zoo should be closed for good.

In this age of the Discovery Channel, there's no need for London or any other city to keep animals cooped up against their will.

If London's children want to see wildlife up close, they can turn on the television. If they want to touch and smell farm animals, their parents can arrange a visit to one of the many area farms.

There is absolutely no reason to retain Storybook's zoo status.

The remark often heard from visitors to Storybook is the animals seem unhappy. Maybe animals can feel happiness in the same way we humans do, maybe they can't. That's a debate for another time.

What is clear right now is the moral high ground rests with those who don't use living beings for entertainment -- if Storybook's animal exhibits were ever entertaining.

We should view what happened in 2003 as a good start. That's when exotic animals such as the park's llamas, bald eagles and poison dart frogs were relocated. It's time to finish the work that began five years ago.

Besides, it's not like visitors are flocking to see the seals, beavers and other animals -- the place continues to lose money, which is a sign Storybook is out of step with the needs and desires of today's Londoners.

It's not offering exhibits with any great appeal. Which isn't to say the place isn't important. It is. Storybook Gardens is a vital part of the city's unique park system. It should remain, but in an altered form -- one that is more popular. What's Storybook Gardens good for if no one wants to go there?

Perhaps that will be as an Eco Village, perhaps with some other theme. The point is that now is the time for a major change, beginning with the emptying of cages and pens and other habitats. It will take time to find homes for all of Storybook's non-human residents, it's true, but that's not a good reason not to do it.

Many of us remember the golden age of Storybook from our childhoods, but there was always a dark side: Remember Slippery the Sea Lion? He is venerated in local legend for his 1958 escape from Storybook Gardens. Animals, like their human counterparts, want to be free. For the good of the city, we need to act as though we recognize this essential fact.