Page:Babyhood of Wild Beasts.djvu/15



I believe that every normal human child is born with a natural love for wild animals, and a desire to know them intimately. That this universal instinct sometimes is suppressed, and its tendrils often reach out in vain for something to which to cling, is not the fault of human nature, but environment. It is because of that pathetic desire to know the beautiful wild creatures of the world that we have zoological parks and gardens.

The child or the adult who grows up, lives, and dies without having had a chance to become personally acquainted with a lot of interesting wild animals, loses much out of life.

All healthy children are interested in animals, but most of all are they interested in young animals. Naturally, also, it is the wild babies that appeal most strongly to the great universal motherhood instinct in woman, both tame and wild. I once knew personally a black bear cub