Comments on: “Noone ever told us tigers are real”: zoos as champions of ‘actual reality’ in an increasingly virtual world http://www.johnreganassociates.com/noone-ever-told-us-tigers-are-real-zoos-as-champions-of-actual-reality-in-an-increasingly-virtual-world John Regan Associates: funding for zoos, botanic gardens, aquariums and nature sites Wed, 14 Dec 2011 12:55:34 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0.4 By: johnregan http://www.johnreganassociates.com/noone-ever-told-us-tigers-are-real-zoos-as-champions-of-actual-reality-in-an-increasingly-virtual-world#comment-61 johnregan Fri, 07 Sep 2007 11:03:08 +0000 http://whatcouldzoosbe.wordpress.com/2007/12/03/noone-ever-told-us-tigers-are-real-zoos-as-champions-of-actual-reality-in-an-increasingly-virtual-world/#comment-61 Ruth Padel kindly responds Yes, it’s a true, and sad story - what she actually said was - “You never told us tigers were REAL!” Kids are so used to fabulous animals from TV. I was told this story by the teacher when researching my book TIGERS IN RED WEATHER (Abacus Books, paperback - see http://www.ruthpadel.com/pages/tigers.htm) - in which I explored all tiger range jungles to fnd out what is happening to wild tigers and met en route a lot of the international zoo community who play a key role in the conservation and captive breeding of particularly endangered tigers. The screen does so much damage…. It is no substitute for the real - but how do kids who do not meet the real thing, know this? What thrilled that little girl was - that the tiger looked back AT HER. Ruth Padel Ruth Padel kindly responds

Yes, it’s a true, and sad story – what she actually said was – “You never told us tigers were REAL!”
Kids are so used to fabulous animals from TV.
I was told this story by the teacher when researching my book TIGERS IN RED WEATHER (Abacus Books, paperback – see http://www.ruthpadel.com/pages/tigers.htm)
- in which I explored all tiger range jungles to fnd out what is happening to wild tigers and met en route a lot of the international zoo community who play a key role in the conservation and captive breeding of particularly endangered tigers.
The screen does so much damage…. It is no substitute for the real – but how do kids who do not meet the real thing, know this?
What thrilled that little girl was – that the tiger looked back AT HER.
Ruth Padel

]]>