Happy Birthday, Smokey! I remember as a boy seeing Smokey during his brief stint at the National Zoo in Washington, DC. It was not a happy time for the old bruin. He and others were displayed in the typical Victorian style of large rectangular cages on elevated concrete platforms, and it saddened me to see him so confined. Mercifully, reforms were instituted so that animal exhibits now reflect a more natural and humane habitat.
Yes I was at the National Zoo just the other day Smokey and about 75% of the Zoo animals are no longer there. They have no Polar Bears and practically no bears at all other than the Panda’s. Yes, they are no longer caged and the Zoo is mo longer a zoo,it is merely a park with damned few animals.
The great collection of animals you went to see has been destroyed by people who feel that animals have no business in cages and a great larning experince for children of all ages has been decimated.
I know I wont be wasting my time on another visit to the National Zoo.
<I remember as a boy seeing Smokey during his brief stint at the National Zoo in Washington, DC
Me too! I still call him ‘Smokey the Bear.’ Screw the Park Service.