“Look, I taped his mouth shut so he can’t bite you. You can hold it any way you want as long as you don’t drop it.” The zookeeper at Sawgrass Recreation Park in Everglades, Florida, then very callously proceeded to demonstrate the various ways one could hold a baby alligator.

Having worked at a zoo that emphasized careful, limited contact with animals and would never allow a non-trained professional to handle an animal, I openly gaped at him.

“But what if you hold him improperly and hurt him?”

He conveniently ignored my inquiry, while the other visitors seemed to be more concerned about getting bitten than about the wellbeing of the captive alligator.

Many humans seem to have a dichotomist approach towards animals: Because many humans do not understand animal behavior, they tend to anthropomorphize certain species, cooing at their adorable appearances, and write off others as dangerous killers, perhaps influenced by films such as Jaws and Anaconda. Both approaches may have negative consequences. The first may lead to a failure to domesticate a wild animal, resulting in injury to both owner and “pet,” and the second can result in the hunting of a species to the point of endangerment.

Sensationalist stories on endangerment and pet injuries are often seen in the news, but the widespread lack of knowledge regarding animals also has more subtle implications, such as the mistreatment of animals in the wild or captivity. For example, there is much controversy about the ethical standing of zoos: Captive Animals’ Protection Society lists ten reasons why the goals and the execution of zoos do not justify imprisoning animals. The question of whether zoological institutions are morally permissible aside, however, animal handlers, especially those who interact with the public through demonstrations, have an obligation to emphasize proper conduct towards animals as well as to dispel myths, not exacerbate them.

However, it would be wrong to only focus on formal zoological institutions.  In order to most effectively advance the relationship between humans and animals all humans must attempt to interpret animal behavior outside the scope of human behavioral patterns.