Hear the Wild Calls

Ever since I was little my grandpa would take me to the zoo in a park near home at 5 o'clock in the morning. I could name all those animals and read complicated characters on the information board. I learned that wolves were savage, lions were majestic, ostriches were timid, and lambs were weak. I never quite believed that animals were stereotypical. I exchanged gaze with a lion and we yawned at the same time; a wolf looked me in the eye and nodded at me; a 400 pound white tiger collapsed in front of me looking for a back rub; and a pelican charged at me thinking that my sunglasses might be a nice meal. The more animals I encountered the more I realized that putting animals in stereotypical boxes would let us miss so many fascinating aspects of them.

For this project I went to the zoos and conservation facilities in every city I visited to document the behaviors and status of animals in captivity. Even in the toughest predators, there were serenity and hope in their eyes.