laisse du tigre (La)

If a Bengal tiger anxiously splashes around in a small plastic pool in the summer and feeds on supermarket meat, is it still a tiger? By examining the troubled existence of so-called wild animals now living under overwhelmingly domestic and artificial conditions, this book raises the dual question of communication and animality. The turbulent lives of these trafficked animals reflect current ecological changes, embody the precipitous disappearance of animal species, and denote the accelerated deterioration of natural habitats. This book presents animal biographies, such as that of a former laboratory chimpanzee (Rachel) now living in an evangelizing sanctuary, or that of an "unemployed" dolphin (Nellie) put up for auction after the amusement park where it was born and raised went bankrupt. Echoing one another, these biographies make up a bestiary of beings that seem to have leapt from grotesque fiction. Yet, they are anything but imaginary. And thus the age-old question of species is raised once again, albeit in an entirely different fashion than before.