September 10th, 2189
A few weeks ago I was able to visit the Asahiyama Zoo with my family, and while all the animals were great, I found that the timber wolves drew the largest crowd. Now, this is not abnormal on its own, many zoos rely on large predators to attract guests, but what made this special was the quirked wolf in the enclosure.
Lovingly dubbed “Wolf Might” by a naming contest, the male timber wolf was twice the size of the other male wolves at the zoo. He had a larger vocal range, able to mimic human voices, and seemed to possess a higher level of intelligence than his packmates. The zoo claims that ‘it’ is still not of human intelligence, but I watched him rub mud off its face while looking at his own reflection in the pond and heard him ask to be let inside. Yes, asked; he said “Open door.”
This begs the question when it comes to animals, where do we draw the line? Some animals, like Nedzu, display beyond human level of intelligence and sense of self, yet it is only when they are able to properly communicate do they gain rights. If Nedzu lacked vocal cords or was a quadruped would he still be granted rights, or would we force him into a zoo to be gawked at by the masses?
On the other end of the spectrum, when do we pull Wolf Might from the zoo and place him in the custody of quirk specialists? Is it when he says his own name, or when he learns how to say “I am uncomfortable with this arrangement.” I believe our superiority complex blinds us to those of comparable intellect outside of our species, and that when an animal shows a beyond-normal sense of self and intelligence they should be removed from zoos or other similar institutions and be allowed to make decisions regarding their own care. This may mean teaching these animals reading, writing, and human language to enable communication, a costly endeavor but worth it in order to preserve human decency. In order to do this, we must overcome deep-seated biases and beliefs against quirked animals. I believe these prejudices may come from the same source as prejudice against heteromorphic or mutant quirks, but as that is a deeper issue I will not touch on this today.
Consider this a small bit of rambling from a person with too much time on their hands. As quirks become more commonplace all over the globe, including in animal populations, we must begin to pave the way for more widespread acceptance of quirked animals. I think that we humans have gotten off easy with Nedzu, we should reflect on what the world would look like if its most intelligent creature were less forgiving.
Signing Off,
Shrike.