Jon Russo Free response 5

 Friday I attended the speaker event at the Torgler Center. The speaker was a historian who studied elephants, meaning he investigated the history of elephants after they were in human captivity. His studies went back over 100 years and investigated the lives of several elephants, from photos of them being captured, which can be quite traumatic to their bones after they pass. Many of these elephants lived an interesting, often tragic life, especially the males. Most zoos don't keep males because they are very instinctive, causing them to want to be destructive and mate, so when males are in captivity, they're often beaten. The talk made me think about human relationships especially in western culture, and how people just want to own animals and control them. The anthropocentric mindset in humans has often led to a disturbing history. I'd like to think that animal conditions in zoos are much better. Many of these elephants were famous and brought crowds of people to see them; I can understand the enjoyment and curiosity, just not the torture.

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