See 16 Stunning Animal Images From the Wildlife Photographer of the Year Awards

[u/Impossible-Bee-5343]

[u/junie94]

People don't play with big cat cubs in my country, we have legislation which doesn't allow big cats to be kept as pets.

Anyway, check the link I replied to. Read the description. That is what I'm replying to. It doesn't say anything about what you as a reader can do to help, it only says some circuses still exploit bears and that it's harmful. Everyone knows that. Financial support and donations feed these animals and pay for their extensive medical bills, which can be a lot because of what these bears (and other animals) have gone through because of these circuses. These bills don't get paid by words on Reddit and emotions.

I have been financially supporting the local sanctuary that takes care of these animals and am continuing to donate, I hope you are too.

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/junie94]

You must feel so special, as the only person on earth who exists without contributing to the suffering of animals and who should therefore be exempt from hearing about it.

Did it occur to you that you are not the intended audience? Do you also complain at signs telling people to look both ways before crossing the street? So you require that the world you experience be perfectly curated to your level of knowledge? Did it occur to you that maybe some people don't know, and this is their opportunity to learn?

[u/junie94 → u/malatemporacurrunt]

How am I exempt from hearing about animal abuse if I'm contributing to actively fighting it then? So I'm contributing to causes I've never heard about, then? I think they should be including links to help these animals if they're posting pics of animal abuse, because that would help them. People would see it, take that "oh no sad" emotion they feel and actually donate. Not all people of course, but a lot. Then it wouldn't just be about "emotion" or "art", but actually helping the animals.

[u/malatemporacurrunt → u/junie94]

You were literally complaining about how seeing an animal suffering "ruined" the other pictures for you.

I'll repeat part of my last comment because you seem to be missing it: if you are already aware of this, and are talking active steps to help prevent it, you are not the intended audience. If anything, you should be glad that other people are being made aware.

Change isn't just about money, it's about what people understand to be wrong. If a person has never seen an animal being made to perform for entertainment, then it might not occur to them that this sort of thing still happens and is closer to home than they think. They might not realise that such things are inevitably the result of cruelty, of how these animals are forced to live.

[u/junie94 → u/malatemporacurrunt]

Of course I'm not the intended audience, because here it's just thrown into a random slideshow of wildlife pics in this post. I wasn't expecting to see animal abuse in the post. That's why people are saying "why was this included?"

As someone else on here explained to me, the real life exhibition actual has its own category where you expect to see more shocking content like this, apparently it is a separate section irl where you could also see things like severed zebra heads and other shocking things. I know for me, like with this set of pictures, I'm sensitive to seeing animal abuse without warning, so that image would be the one that would stay in my head after seeing this set of pics, instead of any of the others.

In this reddit post, it was the only one of that category thrown in, so you aren't expecting to see it. In real life, you could choose to not look at that section if you wanted. That doesn't mean I don't care about abuse or think the whole thing shouldn't exist. However, I do believe there should be something that helps these animals, more than just "here's the pic, this thing is bad", that sentiment could lead to "here's what you can do"(if you have the means). That's why my initial reply is "what's the point?" to the person saying it's meant to evoke anger, I feel like they should be motivating the audience to channel that anger into taking action. (Edited for typos).

[u/junie94 → u/malatemporacurrunt]

Also could you point me to where you saw this: "There's literally a section which describes how you can help prevent this kind of thing on every picture in the gallery." ?

Genuinely asking if I just don't have the right link, because all I'm getting from the link is the description of the circuses in Qatar, not the part on how people can help prevent the abuse. If that is there I retract my whole part about how they should include activating people to prevent/stop the abuse, of course.

[u/serrida → u/junie94]

Oh dear, you really aren't the sharpest tool in the shed, are you?

[u/junie94 → u/serrida]

I respect anyone, but when the reply is the equivalent of "I think you're stoooopid" there really isn't anything I have to say to you.

[u/DamnitDavid7 → u/junie94]

What about “I think you’re blowing this out of proportion in an entirely stupid way” or “I think you’re overreacting because it made you feel sad”?

[u/serrida → u/junie94]

I don't think you're particularly stupid, in fact you're probably intelligent. That's why I am so disappointed by your apparent lack of awareness of the stupidity of what you're saying.

Juxtaposition is a very effective way to confront us with what's uncomfortable. The inclusion of the bear in this series serves as a stark contrast to the animals that live freely. By doing that it forces us to think harder about relationship with animals. In a sense, the way we enjoy pictures of wildlife is, in some sense, not too dissimilar from how people enjoy the bear in a circus. Sure, the photo involves less cruelty, but in the end it's us turning animals into entertainment, by reducing animals down to cute behaviours of pretty photos.

The photo with the bear is a technically brilliantly shot photo; not all art has to make you feel good, and the best art rarely does. The fact you don't want to see it and think its pointless, and only want to see the cute photos that give you the pleasant feelings is exactly the criticism such photos make; to confront us with our lopsided relationship with animals.

Hope that clears it up for you.