Melancholy

Went to the zoo today (a friend phoned whilst I was there and asked "Which zoo are you at? Edinburgh?". I thought this was a bit of a silly question seeing as there is only one zoo in Scotland, so I replied "No. Auchtermuchty Zoo. Where else did you think?").

This leopard was pacing back and forth along the glass at the front of it's enclosure. Seeing that behaviour alone was enough to make me feel uncomfortable. Such repetitive movements are an indicator of boredom or stress, and always make me start thinking about the pros and cons of zoos. However, from the point of view of getting some interesting photos, this behaviour was a bonus, and I got some good shots of it heading straight towards me as it turned at the edges of it's circuit. On one of it's turns though, it stopped and halted for a moment, so I snapped away. It was only when I looked at the photos at home that I saw that the leopard looked so melancholy and fed up. It's head is hanging down as if it has simply had enough. When I showed the photo to my 7 year old nephew this evening, the first thing he said was "It looks so sad".