As of modern times, the possession of exotic animals as ‘pets’ encompasses a contemporary example of how wealthy people showcase status and exclusivity in Qatar. It is an interesting notion considering the confinement of creatures otherwise known as notorious predators, kings of the jungle, and ultimately the epitome of wilderness. Val Plumwood’s ‘Being Prey’ demonstrates her horrific first hand encounter with a ferocious alligator. Her initial thoughts regarding the first sighting of the alligator was of great interest and inquisitivity, rather than sheer fear (p.34). However, unfiltered terror took over Plumwood’s body and mind as she grasped the alligator’s intentions to knock her over her canoe, and to attack her. The descriptions of the attack offered a very gruesome and a graphic clear view of the injuries Plumwood incurred from her deadly encounter with the wild animal. The beast ‘death rolled’ her, sunk its teeth into her bear flesh, suffocated her and more. Ultimately, Plumwood’s experience accentuates a wild predator’s innate nature to kill and to hunt. Moreover, the collision of human and wild animal depicts a very clear hierarchy that highlights the animal in possession of the ‘upper hand’. Plumwood escaped on the mere basis that the alligator simply tired out and chose to forgo its victim. Consequently, this encounter mechanizes as an exemplar as to why wild animals should not be within close vicinity of fragile human individuals. This brings to light the modern phenomenon of owning and flaunting exotic animals while simultaneously confining them to household environments and small areas of living. This expresses the negation of natural conditions in which the wild animal is to roam freely in its habitat, undisturbed, unprovoked and posing no threat to any humans surrounding them. Therefore, the reality where the wealth is in ownership of these animals poses a series of fruitful questions: What is the prime motive of these people and how do they ensure their own safety and the safety of others? How do these owners facilitate the needs of wild animals in domesticated environments? Is the possession of wild animals a form of exclusivity, or is it a form of passion? Is it ethical if the animals’ prime needs are being ensured?
Notoriously, niche groups of residents in Qatar, along with residents of other countries residing in the Gulf region, invest large sums of money on the informal domestication of entirely wild animals. This reality has repetitively proven to be entirely unethical considering the jeopardization of the overall safety of the surrounding community, and the owners themselves. In fact, in 2016, the Guardian released an article on an escaped tiger voyaging in between traffic and incoming cars. (The Guardian, 2016). The consensus surrounding where the tiger originally came from came down to it being an escaped pet. The article also touched on other escaped wild animals within the country, including a cheetah, and the uproar this has caused amongst concerned neighbors and civilians. Despite the unlawfulness of such actions, it remains to be ‘trendy’ and cool to have such animals and exoticism in one’s household, considering how pricey these animals are, and entirely exclusive they are meant to be. Val Plumwood’s traumatic experience underscores the hazards interweaved in human and wild animal relations, and how inherently unnatural this alliance proves to be.
Sources used: Guardian News and Media. (2016, March 8). Escaped tiger spotted on busy road in Doha. The Guardian. Retrieved September 29, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/mar/08/escaped-tiger-spotted-busy-road-doha-motorway-qatar
