I think we can generally agree that it’s wise to teach our kids that teasing, taunting, and bullying are awful behaviors, right? So how, as adults, do we justify committing these behaviors ourselves?
Watch the following clip of a Korean television show (despite the fact that the header text claims it’s Japanese) as a zoo worker takes a young bear and purposefully places it into various other animals’ enclosures just to watch it react in panic and fear.
The bear is obviously terrified — if you can see white around an animal’s eyes, it’s pretty well freaked out. And this continues with at least three separate animals. If I wanted to extend the benefit of the doubt, I’d say that maybe there’s something in the narration that explains this, that bears some merit for what they’re putting that bear through. But listen to the mocking tone of the narrator and the laughter of the audience. This just looks like straight-up cruelty.
Not to mention what the other animals might think of the bear. And shouldn’t a zoo be more aware of preserving an animal’s well-being than the average man on the street? If there are any Korean-speaking readers out there, would you do me a favor and translate what’s being said in this clip? I’d love to be proven wrong about all this.
