Speaking for the Bears (Luang Prabang)

Luang Prabang, Laos. The Tat Kuang Si Bear Rescue Center is little zoo/interpretative center that raises money for the rescue of bears abandoned and/or traumatized by poaching activities and trade of wildlife (bear bile is used for medicinal purposes in China).

The approach to interpretation here is anthropomorphic, to the extreme, probably to emphasize that bears are worthy of our moral care and consideration. They seem to have gone over some line however, with the individual bear labels, written in first person. They made me squirm.

Here is a cage you can crawl into. The tone of the text is accusatory, as if the visitor is assumed guilty of wrong thinking, and needs to be reprimanded. In this scenario the visitor is shamed.

Bears around the world wall photo op