The Cobra Show

When we arrived at the Floating Markets, the driver informed us that we had the option of leaving early for a few other activites, one of which was a "cobra show". Say no more. Sign me up, sounded awesome. So after about an hour of roaming around the markets, I returned to the meetup point and boarded a van with a few other people. We drove for about 10 minutes through some sketch looking areas until we arrived, greeted by this ominous looking statue out front:

I paid my $5 cover and was on my way in. I entered the building, noticing that I was literally the only one in there. Weird. Where was everyone? And when the heck did this thing start? I was in a courtyard area with lots of different cages and housing with, yep you guessed it, all kinds of snakes. But in addition to that there were some other random reptiles and amphibians. And maybe I am just used to the standard of animal cages in the US, but the conditions here seemed pretty deplorable. Especially for the larger animals like the aligators, monitor lizards, and a massive crocodile. They were stuffed in tiny little concrete and chain-link pens, with virtually no attempt to furnish them in a way that would resemble the animals natural habitat. It seemed more like a prison than a zoo.

Sad.

A few people had begun trickling in, and soon it was time to head to the little auditorium area where the show would take place. I took a seat in the front row, with nothing but a knee-high ledge separating me from the little pit area below. If one of these snakes went rogue, it was pretty easy to imagine them climbing right up and over. Comforting thought.

Finally it was Showtime! So without further adeui...I'm just gonna let you watch the video and then offer my commentary after. Oh, and if you are queasy about snakes or sensitive to animal mistreatment, I would not recommend watching...

 

 

Wow, where do I even start with this...?

It started off relatively ok, until the cobra handler started slapping at it, and it only went downhill from there.

Can you feel the love?

One after another, these animals were brought on stage to be antagonized, provoked, and humiliated for our amusement. Ok maybe its a stretch to think that a snake could be humiliated but thats the best way I can describe it, because this was nothing more than a showcase of how they behave under duress. Not a fair or accurate representation of the animals normal behavior, as you could tell they weren't really looking to strike. Escape was obviously their preferred option, attempting to do so while being pulled back in and pressured into displaying their fight response. Over and over to the point where it became exhausting to watch. And then there were the theatrics...

How about that little kid, chucking the snake towards the crowd to get a nice reaction.

Or that huge python. Thing coulda been 50 years old, just getting toyed with by some teenage dude. Slapping the crap out of it while holding it's tail so that it has no choice but to lunge back at him, swinging the snake as it does so, enough that its head bounces against the concrete wall. Really entertaining.

Bravo. Take a bow, guys

But that wasn't even the worst part. That would be the part where they put a cobra and a mongoose (it's mortal enemy) into a cramped little glass container and let them go at it, while offering light hearted commentary as if it were a WWE wrestling match.

Yay, death match

Me and the guy sitting next to me looked at each other in disbelief. And as the show went on, they just rolled the cage into the background, where the animals continued to fight, presumably to the death. Unbelievable.

The missing element here was a respect and appreciation for these animals, as I did not sense that from the "handlers" or whatever you want to call them. Antagonists would be a better word. Casting the snakes as the bad guys, trying to attack them as they adeptly dodged their vicious strikes. Basically playing upon peoples fear, and even perpetuating it, while offering little to no real educational value. It truly was all a "show", and I couldn't help but feel bad for its miscast and unwilling participants.

While this would have been a cool opportunity to showcase these animals and teach people about them in a humane way, which I was naively expecting, this was just exploitation at best and animal cruelty at worst.

What a f*#king joke.

 

 

Posted with Blogsy