attacked and killed a zoo visitor who had been throwing sticks and pine cones at the tiger. This kind of event, although extremely rare, always provokes discussion on the nature of zoos and whether or not keeping animals in zoos is humane treatment. Aren't we inviting such violent animal behavior by caging them up? Wouldn't every zoo animal do the same if given the chance? Do we have a right to take away an animal's freedom purely for the 
sake of our study and entertainment?Searching for an answers to these questions, I inevitably always return to the words of Yann Martel. Early on in his novel 'The Life of Pi' Martel offers a convincing argument in favor of zoos. Life in 'the wild' is a stressful existence for most animals. Their days are consumed with the search for food and the evasion of predators. Every single day is a battle between life and death. In the zoo, food
and safety are guaranteed. The two most important and all-consuming issues in a wild animal's life are taken care of for them in a zoo and although they may not have a great deal of space in which to roam freely, this is not something they would do in the wild anyway.It surprises most to learn that wild animals, in opposition of the romantic notion that they roam freely over great distances, actually keep to very small areas and that the search for food and the evasion of predators limit
their movements to something that in no way resembles freedom.A few days short of the three year anniversary of the fatal tiger attack, we visited the SF Zoo thinking: these animals are happy; we need not worry about being attacked unless we do something to interfere with the stability and calm of life in their enclosures. The polar bear with blood red stains all over his white fur did have us concerned for a moment, though...
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