COMMENT | Orangutan has never tried to kill me in shopping mall

COMMENT | I have loved animals since forever. As a child, I used to run around looking for insects, tadpoles and small snakes around the house. I kept an aquarium filled with garden snails in the dining room (which my father made me throw out because he said it’s not a sight he wanted to see while eating meals).

I had a lot of other pets too. While growing up, I had cats, dogs, ferrets, tortoises, iguanas, snakes, gerbils, mice and hamsters. Currently, I have a dog, a snake and a couple of fish. I loved going to zoos too and I still do. Sure, there can be a lot of criticism when it comes to zoos, but for the most part, they play their part in conservation.

I also used to like watching wildlife documentaries. National Geographic and Discovery Channel were a staple on television. Steve Irwin the Crocodile Hunter was one of my favourite wildlife television personalities. I loved how he interacted with his environment and the animals to promote the love for wildlife and its conservation.

We learned that whatever environment created on earth, man has been responsible for it...