Many people have an image that wild animals are “happy, and “free”. However, contrary to popular belief, an animal in the wild leads a life of compulsion and necessity. In addition, they live in an environment where the supply of fear is high, the supply of food is low, and in a world where territory must constantly be defended. There is no meaningful freedom in this context, thus, animals in the wild are neither free in time, space, or personal relations.
Truthfully, animals are creatures of habit, and are obsessive in many ways. They get set in their ways, and despise anything out of their ordinary structured lives. In their natural environment, they stick to the same routine season after season. This is no different than an animal kept in captivity. For example, in a zoo, if an animal is not in its normal place, in its regular posture, at the usual hour, it means something. The reason for such an event could be something as simple as a puddle, left from a previous night of rain that interferes with the animal’s ability to be where it wants to be. These routines and behaviors can easily be monitored and dealt with by zoo staff that knows exactly what they are doing.
There are an exorbitant amount of people who also imagine that animals simply get up, leave their homes, and explore the wild, ignoring all