Suppose this is one of those art styles where the "realistic" version would be different in proportions. We get chibi dragon instead of "oh shit it's triggering monkey fear response" serpentine?
For someone who wanted to be a zookeeper since childhood he doesn't seem to know much about animals, like their behavior for instance, say, when they feel lonely. At least he's learning now, better late than never I guess.
While I am enjoying this and will continue to read it, I do question why they have a sapient creature that can understand spoken language caged like an animal.