📘 Part 3: Wildlife and education

This episode's vocabulary

Averse (adj.) - strongly disliking or opposed to something.

Vantage (noun) - a place or position giving a good view of something.

Outdoorsy (adj.) - (of a person) enjoying spending time outdoors, especially doing activities like walking and cycling.

In the thick of something (idiom) - in the most active or dangerous part of a particular situation or activity.

Documentarian (noun) - a person who makes documentaries.

Flora (noun) - the plants of a particular region, habitat, or period.

Fauna (noun) - the animals of a particular region, habitat, or period.

To run the risk of doing something (idiom) - to do something although something bad might happen because of it.

To buy (verb) - to believe that something is true.

Dubious (adj.) - hesitating or doubting, not to be relied upon.

Sheer (adj.) - complete and without restriction or qualification.

Fascination (noun) - the power to attract, charm, or interest strongly.

Cuddliness (noun) - the quality of being soft, warm, and pleasant to hug or cuddle.

Outlawed (adj.) - made illegal or banned by law.

Frankly (adverb) - in an open, honest, and direct manner.

Captive (adj.) - (of a person or an animal) having limited ability to move or act freely because of being kept in a space.

Enclosure (noun) - an area that is surrounded by a barrier, often used to keep animals in.

Contingent on/upon something (phrase) - depending on something else in the future in order to happen.

Nocturnal (adj.) - active during the night.

To wander (verb) - to walk around slowly in a relaxed way or without any clear purpose or direction.

Skittish (adj.) - easily frightened or likely to change quickly.

Questions and Answers

R: Surely, that's a question of what kind of person you are. I mean, if you're extremely averse to being out in the world, then the safe vantage point of the couch with the TV seems best. And if you're more outdoorsy, then being out in the thick of it would probably be more fun.

M: Are there many wildlife documentaries produced in your country?

R: Ooh, famously, yes. David Attenborough is a famous documentarian, and has been for the last 40 years at least. He's covered so many different places in the flora and fauna there. What a life...

M: What are possible impacts of only seeing wild animals in zoos on children's understanding of these animals?

R: I suppose they could fall into the trap of thinking that this is how animals behave in the wild, and so they're relatively safe when they go out in the world. Of course, nothing could be further from the truth. They also run the risk of buying into the idea that this is the best way to treat the natural world, which is extremely dubious.

M: Why are most children interested in wild animals?

R: As many reasons as there are kids, it seems. I mean, for some it will be the sheer fascination of all these different forms of life and how they can live in circumstances which seem impossible for humans. And for others, it might be the cuddliness factor, and the animals seem so cute that they're almost drawn in this way, or they're almost created in the way that they have been drawn.

M: Should parents take their children to the zoo to see wild animals?

R: Well, that's a hard no. I think zoos and circuses should be outlawed, frankly. Can you imagine treating another human in that way? Not to mention the negative effects it has on the captive animals. And then you combine that with how children behave in these places, screaming and banging on the glass enclosures. Absolutely not.

M: Are wild animals easy to spot in your country?

R: Oh, that's probably contingent on what you're hunting for. I mean, nocturnal animals are going to be more difficult to find compared to the ones that wander around in the daytime. Even then, given how interactions between humans and wild animals usually go these days, a lot of those which are out in the day might be quite skittish themselves and run away. So overall, probably not close up, but maybe from a distance in the daytime, it would be quite easy.