I was wondering, what is everyone's opinions on zoos?
I've only been to the zoo a few times in my life, Healesville Sanctuary a couple of times etc. It never occurred to me that they are cruel but now it kind of seems weird.
To have an animal in a relatively small enclosure (Compared to what they would have in the wild) and people, little school kids, tourists etc gawking at them from behind glass or a fence..
I understand that it is sometimes necessary to keep animals in captivity for conservation reasons, & if they've lost the ability to survive on their own, but it seems wrong to keep a perfectly healthy animal in a limited enclosure..
There's a certain amount of hypocrisy here from me, because I have to admit the last few times I've been to the zoo I've had the greatest time.. It's not every day you get to see animals like that up close, especially massive ones like elephants and giraffes, and exotic reptiles etc. And of course it can be so good for educating children (and adults) but... I don't know..
I can't work out whether I agree or not. What does everyone else think??
i used to like the zoo..but it was so normal for people to go there and see the animals like that that it was ok. but then it just slowly came to me and i realised that i dont think its fair to keep animals locked up in such small places like that. in the adelaide zoo the lions have the smallest enclosure...its really really sad and i hate it. there will be heaps of people crowing around the cages and you can see how distressed they are. sitting right in the back corner not having any peace and quiet, no where to goto.
Children have the internet, books..many many places to learn about animals. you dont need to see them up close to learn, sure its an experience but its certainly not necessary. A good point of reasoning iread in a book called 'but you kill ants' is that children dont need to goto the moon to learn about it.
You could also goto somewhere like monarto (its in adelaide, a massive sanctuary where the animals can run around and stuff.) and go on a tour ther. if the animals dont wanna be around you then they'll just leave, easy.
I think zoo's are wrong personally. to me its just like a bigger factory farm, in the sense that they cage them. They only get these small cages compared to what they would normally have..you know?
I think they're great, the ones i've been to anyway. The animals environment is similar to what they would have if they were wild. They get looked after very well and there are programs that help near-extinction species. They are also a great place for people, esp little kiddies, to appreciate other species of animals. All in all, I believe zoos can be a fantastic day out and even a sort of haven, i find going to zoos very relaxing.
Ahhh I practically wrote a 700 word response and just as i was about to click send, the web exited.
Anyway, I've always weighed the arguments of zoos over the years but the main thing to consider is that its profit driven. Sure sometimes its good for conservation and protection, but is putting an exotic animal behind a 7 ft high fence good for it?
Take, for instance, the arrival of the elephants from Thailand a couple of years ago. There was such a massive debate within the public. Who knows if they would of been better off here or in Thailand? Im sure if a Thai zoo wanted to purchase a couple of extreamly rare specied koalas, there would be outrage.
Now most of the female elephants are preggers (and one has even just given birth), most dont know that this was because of artificial insemination.... which means that they were not content to conceive naturally. And I do feel sympathy for the calves as they will experience a fate similiar to that of Knut the polar bear in Berlin zoo.
I've also heard that a couple of zoos are planning to HIRE giant pandas from China.
And do you remember last year the plans to build a theme park within Werribee zoo. Again, profit driven with probably little consideration towards the animals welfare. It angered the public so much that the plans were axed. Being a bit hyppocritical, however, i went to my little cousins birthday at Werribee zoo. Being an open range zoo, the enclosures are certainly bigger than most, with extra care taken to give a 'natural' feeling, such as having 3-4 species in each. But still, each animal has their life completely controlled. One keeper actually told me that most of the female animals are on birth controll... which i found funny at first but then made me notice how far from their natural environment they are.
Noticing the size of this post i will probably stop writing now. But comparing images from zoos 100 years ago to zoos today... there is certainly much improvement. The only thing is, these are Australian zoos. If you know of the WSPA, you know of their campaigns to rescue animals from zoos such as in Romania. The footage is absolutely awful.
Here is some info on zoos http://www.alv.org.au/issues/10.php
The last time I went to Melbourne zoo I saw many unhappy animals including the bearded monkeys kept in some crappy type of bird aviary and other animals who merely stared back, making me feel like I was intrusive and ignorant for supporting the Big Brother affect which has become their lives.
At the end of the day I think the animals know it's not natural, which is why many display signs of frustration and total boredom, not to mention how many times animals fail to breed in captivity.
I see Melbourne Zoo as a business and nothing more. Even if some of the people think they are saving species from extinction, in the meantime they are stealing the natural lives of the current inhabitants- is that fair? I think not.
As for zoos like Werribee, well, they were going to turn it into an effing theme park- with the animals still there! Enough said!!
Animals + Cages = No.
Same here. I once went to this wildlife sanctuary called 'Jirrahlinga', which was completely run by volunteers and cared for animals which could not be released back to their natural environment. All the animals were native Australian and in native Australian enclosures or areas. It was gorgeous.
I think they're an extremely miserable environment for animals, particularly the smarter ones. The last time I went to any type of zoo was years ago in year 7, it was the Melbourne zoo and this was before I had done any research on animal rights/welfare. I remember though looking at I think it was Gorilla exhibit. I remember the animals being absolutely miserable. They are such clever creatures - I mean, we've taught some sign language! But you could see how distressing the whole setup was for them. A little area for them to live in in, guarding them in a deep moat. But those most distressing thing .I think for these creatures, was the people viewing them like they were some kind of circus - let alone the younger children screaming at them to “do something” - they looked extremely depressed.
I also think it is disgusting that we're able to legally go hunting for animals - not to kill them, but to bring them back to a zoo. It's gross.
Of course though, when an animal is to return to the wild for whatever reason, a sanctuary is the next best option. But I certainly hope the way the public examines these animals needs to change. Looking through at them through glass window, with the animals not being able to get away for privacy, is very distressing.
Animals look much, much, much better in their natural habitat anyway.
