Belly Up

The novel’s central message explores the conflict between environmental ethics and greed, exemplified by the desires of the zookeepers and the zoo owner. The protagonist’s family and FunJungle’s founding ethos prioritize animals’ well-being. Mr. Fitzroy is a globe-trotting wildlife photographer, and Mrs. Fitzroy is a field biologist who has “won all sorts of awards from conservation organizations” for her work with gorillas (57). Teddy’s parents instill a deep love and respect for the environment in him. Although the transition from field research to working at a zoo may seem like a departure for the Fitzroys, zoos have strong ties to conservation efforts. As Teddy observes in Chapter 5, “Zoos have prevented plenty of animals from going extinct—and Mom always says there wouldn’t even be a conservation movement without them” (74). FunJungle is especially appealing to the Fitzroys because the park aims to be a top of the line research facility as well as a zoo. To that end, McCracken instructs his employees to “recruit the best of the best” (58), and he allows these top animal scientists to design the enclosures so they are as close to the animals’ natural habitats as possible. Efforts like this convince the Fitzroys and other preeminent scientists that McCracken is committed to providing the animals with the highest quality care. Environmental ethics are at the heart of the Fitzroy family’s values, and they accept jobs at FunJungle because they believe the park shares their commitment to animals’ well-being. The ideal purpose of the zoo, the one the Fitzroys hold, is in direct conflict with the actual purpose of this zoo, however, which is to generate money.

FunJungle’s leadership is driven by a love of money rather than a love of animals, showing the irreconcilability of the two goals. Over the course of the novel, Teddy uncovers three nefarious schemes, and each one is motivated by greed. There is a stark disconnect between the promises McCracken makes to the scientists he hires and his secret plans to draw more tourists by transforming the zoo into an amusement park. Mrs. Fitzroy sums up the billionaire’s duplicity: “He crows about conservation and providing the highest quality care…but it’s all just lip service” (241). Further developing the theme and emphasizing the corrupting power of greed, two of McCracken’s most trusted employees are also involved in plots that abuse animals. FunJungle’s director of operations, Martin del Gato, smuggles emeralds into the country by having his contacts in Venezuela sew them inside illegally caught animals. This causes the zoo to have a long dead list even though the park has only been open two weeks. Adding to the death toll, the chief of security, Buck Grassley, murders Henry the hippo for quicker access to the precious stones the park mascot swallowed. In the end, Teddy foils all of the avaricious schemes and protects the animals of FunJungle. Gibbs offers an encouraging story in which environmental ethics triumph over greed. The novel demonstrates these two goals are irreconcilable, and one must triumph over the other. By directly showing a profit motivation as being evil and at odds with conservation, Gibbs highlights how zoos can be good and that it is the greed within them that is bad. He argues for the importance of zoos, revealing how ones embodying environmental ethics and the motivations of zookeepers will be at odds with exploitation.