There is a cute, little ass you should check out at the St. Louis Zoo if you get the opportunity this summer. A baby, female Somali wild ass named "Wane," that is.
Wane, like all Somali wild asses, looks like a donkey with zebra-striped leggings and is native to northeastern Somalia and northern Ethiopia.
It is the smallest wild animal in the horse family, but this unique little equine is endangered. According to the zoo's Web site http://www.stlzoo.org, they are "critically endangered."
The Zoo's site says Somali wild asses in the wild are hunted as food and are used in traditional medicine, the animal's fat is believed to be a treatment for tuberculosis. Less than a thousand may exist today outside of captivity.
In an article titled, "What's the Zoo to do with its wild ass problem?" from the June 1 issue of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Zoo President Jeffery Bonner said the asses at the zoo are faced with another problem.
People pay so much attention to the name "wild ass" that they miss out on understanding the awful fate these asses may face.
According to Bonner, people make crude jokes about the name and parents rush their children past the exhibit. In his article, a name change had been suggested at the zoo as possible solution for getting the asses' message to be better received.
But a name change could push the Somali wild ass out of any kind of spotlight it has. Even if the name draws a few chuckles and prompts some to usher their children quickly by, the words "Wild Somali Ass" get attention and the folks at the zoo need to use it to the animal's benefit.
My suggestion is this; use this highly marketable, edgy name to the animals' benefit. Slap it on some t-shirts with the profits going to the animal's aid. Make a large, colorful sign by the exhibit with photos and in big, bold, letters the words "Somali wild asses."
Draw and audience in and keep them there to learn about the plight of these beautiful creatures. In this day and age, crude humor is everywhere. It is in television, commercials, movies and cartoons.
The issue is not whether or not crude humor is a good thing or a bad thing. The point is Somali wild asses deserve to be saved and they need all the attention they can get to be saved.
It is understandable that people working closely with these animals might not have the desire to not sink to the level of crude humor and jokes. However, it could be a small price to pay for getting the message out there about putting an end to the hunting and suffering of these asses.
Animal suffering is on much lower of a level than humor that is considered to be in bad taste. Working with the name instead of changing it could just light a fire under some people's you-know-what's and get them to care.
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