Kruger (and safari camps) vs. Zoos

It is interesting to contrast Kruger vs. a nice American zoo. Let me preface this post by saying I far prefer Kruger!

Visability: at the zoo you are nearly guaranteed to see each animal. That's pretty cool, except it means that habitats for them are lacking (not as private as they would prefer in the wild), and it also eliminates the thrill of the search.

Food: at the zoo the animals are fed, in Kruger they have to fend for themselves. I have never understood why it is ok to give dead, previously killed animals as food in zoos but it isn't ok to give live animal as food. Why is it ok for humans to kill the animals but not for their natural predators to? (I guess if you read my last post you could say that we are likely to kill more humanely - though that can be debated.) In fact I've always found it odd that people don't want to see an animal get eaten at the zoo yet they go to the zoo food stands and eat dead animals there... Very odd... It seems we are happy so long as we are removed from the death.

Lifestyle: at the zoo the animals are given enrichment activities to fend off boredom, but in Kruger the animals aren't bored because they are doing what they are meant to do. It is amazing how different elephants seem when they are 99% of the time foraging for food - they are constantly active - the elephants in Kruger didn't look bored at all!

Cages: at the zoo the animals are in cages - or more properly are behind electric fence. At Kruger, you are in the cage (in your car outside the rest camps), or you are behind the electric fence (at the camps). It puts things into perspective... This is their land, you are just visiting...

Comfort: at the zoo, human comforts are actually minimal - made for mass use and low quality. Kruger is actually quite comfortable. Granted you are likely to stay overnight in Kruger and that won't happen at the zoo, but you could do Kruger in quite a high level of comfort. There were people getting out of cars at "picnic" spots (where they cook and serve you fresh food) in fancy clothes with designer purses. That was my biggest shock in Kruger. In fact, the one member of our party made the comment that you can tell who the locals are - they are the ones in the camps NOT wearing khaki or neutral colors!