For many people, the zoo is a source of childhood amazement and fond memories: swinging monkeys, laughing hyenas and growling tigers. Conservationists say zoos advance their educational and preservationist efforts, but others see zoos as prisons where innocent creatures are unjustly held captive. The next time your child asks you to take them to the zoo, what will your answer be?
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Animals in zoos were mostly born in zoos so if we let them go into the wild they'd probably die. So either let them stay in zoos or die.
- vampsquest
February 13, 2009 12:50PM
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The Wild is No Animal's Paradise
- From Jack Hanna
By Jack Hanna - Director Emeritus, Columbus Zoo
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Irrelevant.
This argument is irrelevant as it A) assumes that humans ought to act paternalistically therefore zoos are justified (would this argument also extend to humans suffering in Africa, for example? Why not?) and B) that if we adopted a principle of respect for the autonomy of sentient beings those ranchers mentioned would not be prevented from acting with such extreme methods to protect their "animal property" (which should also be justified). Both assumptions are unsound and as yet unjustified.
- Alex M
August 9, 2008 3:44PM
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The earth does not belong to humans alone
I agree with your point about animals not being able to survive when they 'intrude human territory'. However, it's their nature to hunt for food, it is also the basic needs of living things, so our presence should not deprive them of it.
Livestock is not what other animals have. To the wolves, our livestock is just food. No other animal in the animal kingdom have 'livestock', feeding their prey before killing them. No animal breeds it's prey and claims their prey only for their species, and sell their prey to another animal of the same species. This means that mankind having livestock is already unatural. 'Livestock', if we must have it, should be shared with other animals, because this earth does not belong to humans alone. It belongs to all living creatures on the earth, and humans have no right to deprive the other occupants of the earth from their needs.
I strongly believe that if your point is for animals' good, we should change ourselves first.
- Rainie August 10, 2008 6:34PM
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Uh?
I appreciate the educational value of zoos, but at the same time, I cannot ever agree that instead of a beautiful tapestry stretching across a wall, we should be happy with individually sorted threads in a drawer.
By all means, keep some animals in zoos--but there's no way to introduce a carnivore from captivity to the wild without extensive reeducation that can take years, and our last hope for a species should not live in captivity. It's far better to devote energy to conservation in the first place than to look in an enclosure and say "he's happier in there."
- sharky
September 24, 2008 5:09PM
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take it on you
How do you feel if u r kept in one room for your whole life.
don't worry for food and other necessary things... that will be given to you...but can you spend whole of your life in one room with a window?
- animalbuff
June 15, 2009 12:26PM
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Actually...
...if I were an animal, I would love it. It doesn't make a lot of difference to animals . As long as they get their food , water, shelter, and space, they're happy as clams.
- starvingartist
July 11, 2009 6:28PM
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Many people romanticize "the wild."
People who think all animals should be "wild and free" obviously have not travelled extensively and seen the wild, as you have. I have three parrots. I have read up a lot on what their life would be like in the wild. Under the best circumstances, they would live in an area (Solomon Islands, New Guinea, or a small part of northern Australia) where there are not enough nest holes for all females. The female would spend a large part of her life in a small hole in a tree caring for babies (so the people who think cages for birds are cruel need to understand that sometimes in the wild they stay in much smaller environments much of their lives) and hiding from predators. The males would spend the whole day out foraging for food to come back to feed the females and babies, if they aren't captured by a predator. But the biggest enemy facing these birds in the wild is man. They are trapped and killed or shot for their beautiful feathers or shot by farmers because they are eating their crops.
I wish all of the people who put so much energy into trying to keep animals out of zoos and people's homes as pets would invest their time and money into helping to keep parks and wildlife refuges available to the few animals in the wild that are in these areas.
- dancetoday
November 16, 2009 9:45AM
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