Chapter 10

Yet there will always be animals that seek to escape fromzoos. Animals that are kept in unsuitable enclosures are themost obvious example. Every animal has particular habitatneeds that must be met. If its enclosure is too sunny or toowet or too empty, if its perch¹ is too high or too exposed, ifthe ground is too sandy, if there are too few branches tomake a nest, if the food trough is too low, if there is notenough mud to wallow in – and so many other ifs – then theanimal will not be at peace. It is not so much a question ofconstructing an imitation of conditions in the wild as of gettingto the essence of these conditions. Everything in an enclosuremust be just right – in other words, within the limits of theanimal's capacity to adapt. A plague upon bad zoos with badenclosures! They bring all zoos into disrepute.
Wild animals that are captured when they are fully² matureare another example of escape-prone animals; often they aretoo set in their ways to reconstruct their subjective³ worlds andadapt to a new environment.
But even animals that were bred in zoos and have neverknown the wild, that are perfectly⁴ adapted to their enclosuresand feel no tension in the presence of humans, will havemoments of excitement that push them to seek to escape. Allliving things contain a measure of madness that moves them instrange, sometimes inexplicable⁵ ways. This madness can besaving; it is part and parcel of the ability to adapt. Without it,no species would survive.
Whatever the reason for wanting to escape, sane⁶ or insane,zoo detractors should realize that animals don't escape tosomewhere but from something. Something within theirterritory has frightened them – the intrusion of an enemy, theassault of a dominant⁷ animal, a startling noise – and set off aflight reaction. The animal flees, or tries to. I was surprised toread at the Toronto Zoo – a very fine zoo, I might add – thatleopards can jump eighteen feet straight up. Our leopardenclosure in Pondicherry had a wall sixteen feet high at theback; I surmise⁸ that Rosie and Copycat never jumped out notbecause of constitutional weakness but simply because they hadno reason to. Animals that escape go from the known into theunknown – and if there is one thing an animal hates above allelse, it is the unknown. Escaping animals usually hide in thevery first place they find that gives them a sense of security,and they are dangerous only to those who happen to getbetween them and their reckoned safe spot.

1 perch   

n.栖木，高位，杆；v.栖息，就位，位于

参考例句：

• The bird took its perch.鸟停歇在栖木上。
• Little birds perch themselves on the branches.小鸟儿栖歇在树枝上。

2 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

3 subjective   

a.主观(上)的，个人的

参考例句：

• The way they interpreted their past was highly subjective. 他们解释其过去的方式太主观。
• A literary critic should not be too subjective in his approach. 文学评论家的看法不应太主观。

4 perfectly   

adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地

参考例句：

• The witnesses were each perfectly certain of what they said.证人们个个对自己所说的话十分肯定。
• Everything that we're doing is all perfectly above board.我们做的每件事情都是光明正大的。

5 inexplicable   

adj.无法解释的，难理解的

参考例句：

• It is now inexplicable how that development was misinterpreted.当时对这一事态发展的错误理解究竟是怎么产生的，现在已经无法说清楚了。
• There are many things which are inexplicable by science.有很多事科学还无法解释。

6 sane   

adj.心智健全的，神志清醒的，明智的，稳健的

参考例句：

• He was sane at the time of the murder.在凶杀案发生时他的神志是清醒的。
• He is a very sane person.他是一个很有头脑的人。

7 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。

8 surmise   

v./n.猜想，推测

参考例句：

• It turned out that my surmise was correct.结果表明我的推测没有错。
• I surmise that he will take the job.我推测他会接受这份工作。