"Ha.. Lookit the stupid monkey! Ha Ha.. he wants my food but can't reach it.. Ha Ha Ha!.. I could do this all day!"
Geezaloo! This is the kind of person you'd like to see step a little too close to the cage. I can just picture Bonzo grabbing a handful of her hair and pulling her face right up against the wire mesh, while his cellmates rummage through her lovely macrame purse.
What better way is there to honor the majestic beauty of a fifty year old Galápagos Tortoise, than by letting hundreds of children (and assuredly a few immature adults) knock, jump, and stand on his back every day?!?
That's every day..
ten hours a day...
360 plus days a year...
I'll tell ya.. I DO love a good stage show where your emcee places his head inside of a Bengal Tigers mouth. The scrawny chicken wire fence also adds an air of excitement and danger when you're sitting in the front row with your kids.
Yes, things have changed considerably since the early 70s. And in the case of Animal welfare in the U.S., they've changed for the better. I'm sure giant Galápagos Tortoises nationwide will agree.