Meerkat Manor is a nature show about the life-and-death struggles of a group of meerkats being researched. When a baby gets left out in the wilderness, the film-makers have to let it die of exposure. When a meerkat gets an infected sore and is about to die from starvation or toxic blood, the film-makers cannot give the meerkat any medical attention. The tragic results are just what would happen if the film-makers were not there. Makers of nature shows and documentaries usually go through whatever effort they can to stay out of the picture but give as clear a view for the audience what the subject is without the interviewer or film-makers getting involved. The question could come up "what's in it for the subject of the film?", how do the animals in a nature show benefit? Zoos and even circuses and rodeos also face the same sort of scenario, the subjects of their show are the ones with the least possibility for benefit with the exception of fame and fortune. Both fame and "fortune" (money) are rather useless to an animal so it can only benefit the makers of the entertainment in question.
I wonder, if given the information, would an animal benefit from knowing it was famous? Would an animal with unlimited financial resources be able to enjoy shopping and otherwise obtain benefit from having money? Would the joy and thrill of performing that humans get be transferable to animal brains?
There is a kid's show called "Zoboomafoo" that has a wide variety of species of tamed animals (mostly from zoos) interacting with two guys (the Kratt Brothers). I absolutely love the show because I feel I can see much more clearly into the personality of the animals then just observing wild ones. Being made for young kids, it includes a lot of cheesy stuff that makes little kids love the "Teletubies" show and makes that same show almost unwatchable to adults. Is it OK to make a nature show where the film-makers interact with the animal species in question? I hope so because I wish to do just that some day... Zoboomafoo for adults. In such a scenario, it would be perfectly acceptable to help the subjects of the show. Maybe find zoo enclosures that need a "celebrity make-over" and include such a makeover as part of the show. Or buying the land where an endangered habitat is and catching species to bring there. Always asking "what's in it for the subject of this show?"
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