Thoughts on Zoos?

The future existance of alot of species is a main concern of zoos. And you should tolerate zoos because they aren't havens for animal neglect and abuse. The world saw a problem with zoos, and they did change it, for the benefit of those animals, I mean.. it would be cheaper just to keep them in a tiny cage and throw them carrots, wouldn't it?

If you could make money off informing the public about serious global issues, and actively help to do something about it. Wouldn't you?
And don't say it's at the expense of those animals, because let me tell you, they wouldn't survive out in the wild. They do have a good life, free of cares that alot of wild animals have these days, such as loss of habitat and water sources.

The future existance of alot of species is a main concern of zoos. And you should tolerate zoos because they aren't havens for animal neglect and abuse. The world saw a problem with zoos, and they did change it, for the benefit of those animals, I mean.. it would be cheaper just to keep them in a tiny cage and throw them carrots, wouldn't it?

If you could make money off informing the public about serious global issues, and actively help to do something about it. Wouldn't you?
And don't say it's at the expense of those animals, because let me tell you, they wouldn't survive out in the wild. They do have a good life, free of cares that alot of wild animals have these days, such as loss of habitat and water sources.

oh and may i add not all of the animals are miserable, its a change to their original lifestyle sure, but they adapt and they enjoy it nowadays, in early years obviously it was horrible, but zoos are getting better and better

some
yeah zoos blah blah blah can be better (not) but most of thew animals are taken from the wild (not coserving the species) and yes they bredd cuz babies bring more cash most of the animals cannot be put back in the wild
Zoos= BAD!!

Hmm .. I have to partly disagree. Just speaking about Australian zoo's i dont see them as a bad thing. Like most of the animals are cative bred so it unlikely that they can be relased into 'the wild'. Zoo's do rescue and release animals on a regular basis only keepiing them if the animal is unfit to return to the wild (well so the zoos say)

The keepers do have strong bonds with their animals. You have to really love your job to be a zoo keeper, (i know they dont get paid that much)

And if zoo's were really that bad why would Animals Australia sugest retiring Saigon the elephant to dubbo zoo? Like dubbo zoo has alreay rescued several other now retired circus elephants.
Also the tasmanina devil faces extinction in the wild due to the rapid spread of devil facial tumours. Zoo's have started a breeding program to ensure the survival of the species. I dont see that as a bad thing?

You are seeng the scratch and missing the diamond. Not all zoo's are bad.

I agree with you there, but I think the fact that we NEED zoos to keep these species going is a bit sad though. Plus the fact that no zoo can replicate the wild perfectly and a lot fall short of this standard :S

I'm all for the zoos/sanctuaries that have breeding programs (ie: Bilbies, Tassie Devils, etc). It's the ones that have elephants, bears and f**ken Seaworld who has Polar Bears who are WAAAAAAAAAY out of their comfort zone that s**t me to tears.

The Perth zoo has a program at the moment trying to breed and release a turtle (it's  name escapes me right now) that is now only found in one swamp here in Perth... which is slowly getting closer and closer to being redeveloped. They are trying to move them down south. I got in behind the scenes at Perth zoo 2yrs ago as a friend of mine did some name dropping and mentioned he was studying them (he works at JCU in marine science) and the conditions these turtles were kept in was great! Now I don't know much about turtles, but I know a good swamp when I see one lol. I applaud anyone who does work like this... it isn't for the money as the general public doesn't see these animals - they are lucky if they see the 2 turtles on display (they are small and love to hide). They are doing it as they love the animal and don't want to see it disappear.

The same thing applies with the Bilby. The zoo's who are involved with these breeding programs don't get paid to breed these animals... and the work involved is intense (I can say this as I know what is involved as I work with an arm of the breeding program). The only funding that is received is seen by the zoo's only and that's from people coming and going.

So yes I dislike some zoo's.... but I love the work a lot of them to do help the native species that need it.

There is a park in tassie that has japanese marquees and it is a really small enclosure. I find it quite cruel, save the japanese marquees!!

What is diamond about zoos?
Captive breeding programs? A 'safe' place to 'live'?

Even if these were valid justifications for the existence of what are essentially animal prisons  (remember: some prisoners are treated quite well! although, they are in there because they've supposedly done something wrong, unlike animals in zoos) they would only cover a  limited number of species and it would still demand a very different sort of framework...one that I don't think would be called a zoo, but a sanctuary, or haven or reserve or something.

I think it helps to look at this from an outside perspectvive:

Say aliens came to Earth and wiped out most humans... they then decided, because they didn't want to lose the endangered species of humankind, to keep them in captivity. The enclosures provided were a tiny fraction of what a human would be used to or would want. There was limited, if any, social interaction. 'Breeding' was forced upon the humans with other humans whom they may feel ambivalent about or even repulsed by. And every moment of their lives was controlled by a stronger species. They were almost always being crowded around and looked at. If they ' misbehaved' (read: acted on their own impulses) they would be physically and psychologically punished or possibly 'destroyed'.

Is that ok as long as it is in the name of species preservation for the aliens?  Oh and of course some of it isn't...in fact some of the humans are there simply because they are interesting to look at and make money for the aliens - there are plenty of that type of human 'in the wild'.