“A cage of steel. It is a cruel thing to do, to cage such a beautiful, passionate animal as it were only a dumb beast, but humans do all so often.”This excerpt is from the novel, In the Forests of the Night, by Amelia Atwater-Rhodes. I felt relieved I wasn’t the only one who felt that way about animals being locked up. They should be free.

If I were an animal I’d lose my soul if I lost my freedom. Further, if I were taken from my original environment to an unknown place, if I were no longer allowed to hunt my real prey, and if I wasn’t with my own kind, I would be absolutely terrified. I mean, how would a human like it if he was locked up for no reason, just to be looked at as though he was a rock on a pedestal? He wouldn’t be too happy about that.

If you go a little ways into the jungle, you might spot me. I am an endangered animal. I am Lila, a White Bengal Tiger. I love to roam my jungle. It is fresh and inviting. The place I reside is beautiful, with gorgeous vines that sweep the grounds I walk. It also has precious flowers that spurt up with the grace of an eagle flying. There is a pond where fresh water dwells, and I lap it up until I am no longer thirsty. I prowl around with my eyes, scoping out my prey. I crouch and then pounce, feeling the skin rip with my teeth. I live for this kind of life. It gives me great satisfaction.

There are few left of my kind, because hunters and poachers have sought us. We have slowly disappeared. Fortunately, for years, I hadn’t run across any hunters. One morning, however, luck didn’t seem to be on my side. I was shot. I slowly blacked out. Someone captured me and lifted me into some kind of cradle. I wasn’t aware of anything until I was locked in a cage of steel. I gazed around my cell and didn’t see any pond or any kind of vegetation anywhere. I hated this place.

I wondered placidly, why did I deserve this? Was I really endangered that much to keep me alive, that they had to lock me up in some place that reeked of non-existent wild life? Was I even in reality, or was I dreaming? After all, I thought I belonged in the wild, not in some sort of place where there are humans everywhere. In the wild I was free to just exist. I had fun. In this controlling zoo, I have to rely on measly humans to feed and water me. It isn’t right.

I just stare now, for days on end, as though I am not really here. I have no interests in trying to be happy. I resist the scents of food as though it isn’t part of my diet anymore. I just stare at the meat with dull eyes. My appetite sinks below the surface. My emotional sense is no longer. My soul feels like it has died. I feel as though I am just a star lost to the wind, coming up only when the fire starts to blaze with ice.

A part of me always wonders if I shall ever get to leave this place. Will I have the chance at the normal life I once had? Will I remember how to catch prey and how to eat it? What if I have children here in the zoo? Won’t that affect them? I mean, they wont be able to learn how to hunt simply because there isn’t anything to hunt. They might be undernourished simply because they wouldn’t have vegetation like in the jungle. If I ever have kids, I want them to be happy, not miserable.

It seems to me there are a lot of humans here. I ponder why they come to see us so much. Is it just to spend time together with their family? What about my family? Where are they now? I hate being alone in this place. I have no friends. I have no creatures to play with. I can’t hunt. Why should humans get the chance to roam by us with enchanting gazes while we just stare back with nonchalant eyes?

Humans should realize that I have the same kind of feelings they do. I have hopes, dreams, fears and days of loneliness. I get skitterish when too many eyes stare at me. How come I can’t put them in a zoo locked up? If I could do that, then maybe they’d change their minds. Perhaps they would free us if they knew how bad it felt to be in someplace that wasn’t their own. Maybe they would realize that animals should get the chance to run and romp just like kids do on a playground. Animals should be free to do whatever they want, live where they originated from and chose a life for themselves.

I seem to have been broken into a robot, only coming to when I am commanded. I have already started to pace back and forth hoping for something to come rescue me from this place. It isn’t just the lack of wildlife around me; it’s also the fact that humans have constructed our place to walk with concrete. Concrete I say. That is absolutely not fun to lie down on. I need my lush grass to comfort me.

In order for me to be free, I need my jungle. Without nature around me I tend to just exist. I merely survive. My life is not fun at all. People have made me forget where I really belong. They created a safe haven, but I wasn’t truly happy. I wanted to go back to the jungle. I felt most content there. It was my home. I was there first, not the humans. They took away my rights of true freedom when they fired that tranquilizer. My life passed before me without my even knowing it. When I died, pain released itself from me.