There were a variety of shows at the Washington County Fair last weekend. My wife and I wanted to be sure to get there in time for the chimp show. What could be more fun?Almost anything. It was a sad little company: a couple I'd guess were in their 60s, three chimps in their 30s and 40s according to their mistress, and this eight year old. Their tricks were mostly dull. The show was humorless. The older chimps seemed to be phoning it in. Their costumes were campy, even embarrassing. The woman controlled the animals with a chain and metal collar around their necks. Obviously, she wouldn't want the animals running out into the audience but it made them look like slaves.
The juvenile, pictured above, looks like he is suffering from agonizing depression. The image is striking but I think the posture was just part of the act. If you look carefully you can see that he is holding sunglasses.
Things picked up a bit when they brought out a pony. One of the chimps hopped on its back as the pony ran in a fast circle. That was the highlight of the show. Still, it's no wonder this troupe works county fairs.
11 comments:
un spectacle que de singes, cela doit etre sympathique. tes photos sont superbes, avec une preference avec le singe et le cheval.
a spectacle that monkeys, that must be sympathetic nerve. your photographs are superb, with a preference with the monkey and the horse.
Oh, that's just sad. Better to send the poor monkeys to a rescue than shame them that way. Really nice photos, really sad subject. :(
Yes, that is really sad. Well, I don't know which one more sad to see them as entertainer or as dinner meat for logger in Africa.
Chimps were not put on earth to entertain humans. Very sad. Great photos showing their plight.
Pitiful really, to put wild animals in cages. People pay to see them so they are displayed. It is sad. and maybe one day the owners will find themselves in cages entertaining Aliens. Wouldn't that be a turn of events.
Abraham Lincoln
Brookville Daily Photo
Sheesh. A good night's sleep had dulled the effects of a documentary I saw on Hiroshima/Nagasaki (really well done, really hard to watch parts of it). Now this! Old guy on the pony though looks pretty cool. That perception changes though when you pick out the leash pulled taut to the right. Ugh.
I admit, I probably would have paid to see it like you and then felt everything you felt. Poor guys! You know, I've often thought of aliens enslaving us and forcing us to perform for them, like Abe ponders above. Kinda makes me wonder why my life is so sad that I "often" think of things like this!
Great shots, really expressive
--steve buser
New Orleans Daily Photo
im so dissapointed those chimps dont belong there. im nothing against your post its just im against animal cruelty and people making fun of them such as those chimps. especially if they are bein controlled and chained.
Those poor animals. They should be free to swing through the trees, not chained and forced to perform. Such a sad spectacle.
Oi! Your description of your feelings match mine. I have mixed feelings about going to zoos, and only visit the ones that have more "humane" habitat-based displays. The animals may get to lead safer, sheltered, longer lives, but some of them just look so depressed and bored.
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