This is the hand of a Mandrill, living safely in his space, but all alone. I believe he is a solitary fellow by nature, but would usually live amongst hundreds of his own kind in what are termed 'Hordes' for many months of the year. I wish I could have reached over the fence to hold his hand.
I appreciate the sympathy and the empathy with this composition. I do not think we can put our own thoughts into another animals. They don't have the same capacity as we do .. but I also think they suffer but know not why they suffer!
What a touching way you describe this wonderful photo and I have to say I feel very much the same. when I go to a zoo I look into their eyes and you can feel their emotions and sadness. It's a terrible thing that the human race has brought so many species to this point of extinction.
It's natural to put our human emotions into a scene that we see especially involving solitary animals. But who really knows what they're thinking? That being said... I am pleased to say the many zoos here in the US are treating animals differently than the way they did when I was young. Now, they tend to replicate their natural habitat and "lifestyle" (shall we say) instead of keeping them separated and in cement boxes. We just had a man speak at photo club who takes wonderful animal portraits using the zoo animals as his subjects. He was telling us of the hyenas and lions which are natural enemies and how the zoo keeps them separated (for obvious safety reasons!) but rotates their roaming space so that they can scope things out and pick up scents just like they would in the wild. I thought that was quite innovative! There are also quite a few zoos here that take in injured or "handicapped" animals that would not survive in the wild but can under human care so that they don't die a tragic death for lacking food or being able to protect themselves. These animals become educators, teaching the public about their kind and how to protect the environment. Well, enough talk about that. This is a very powerful and evocative image along with your tender thoughts and reasoning. Poignant capture.
