Zoos...a form of animal abuse?

[MotherWolff]

its not down to how they are kept they could well seem happy but when you think of how far an elephant travels in one day (miles and miles) im pretty sure if they could talk they would tell you how awful it is there for them.... its effectively like prison....24 hours in a cell kills me so imagine your whole life there? just to have snotty nosed little kids bang on the cages to try and get your attention? zoos friggin suck....
lol you arent a hypocrite well kinda

I agree with everything, especially the hypocrite part, which can go for anyone who claims they love all animals yet eats some of them.:idontknow:

 

[NathanielWingatePeaslee]

A friend of mine used to work in a zoo.

These are her words on the subject:

My only problem with zoos is that they operate as living museums, which means their exhibits are constantly rotating and animals are routinely exchanged with other zoos worldwide, which creates a lot of stress for the animal and treats them as a commodity.

Personally, I am against any animals being confined, though obviously some domesticated species adapt to it better than others. I think the concerned members of the public would be better off patronizing exotic animal rescue facilities instead of zoos.

 

[Hellhound]

I agree with everything, especially the hypocrite part, which can go for anyone who claims they love all animals yet eats some of them.:idontknow:

What does killing an animal for food has to do with not loving nature? Animals hunt and kill as well.

 

[BlackPuma]

I agree with everything, especially the hypocrite part, which can go for anyone who claims they love all animals yet eats some of them.:idontknow:

I disagree with this. Affection and appreciation aren't that binary.

I'd also like to note that 'animals' isn't a singular thing, it's a collection of many. While I personally have a fascination for all wildlife, it's not unheard of for others to have varying preferences and conduct of treatment.

I disapprove of this mentality personally, as I'm of the opinion no creature should needlessly suffer at the hand of convenience of others. But feeling so as I may, feeling neutral towards a cow doesn't in any way defuses someone's affection towards their dogs, for example.

Emphasis on 'suffering.' I'm not against the eating of meat, re-purposing biological material is a constant quality that nearly all living things share. I'm however (very strongly) against the suffering and fear that goes before euthanization. It's needlessly cruel and needs to stop.

I'd love to see more people focus that rather than arguing the ethics of eating meat. Slinging mud at both sides has never worked (for any topic of this nature.) It needs to be a civil conversation that allows for change and compromises to happen with the least amount of friction. After that, maybe we can discuss widespread alternatives to meat if need be.

Blaming each other for being hypocrites and whatnot is extremely counter productive to reaching that point.

 

[Kiwong]

Well, Conservation is a term widely used by Zoos, makes a fantastic sales pitch!
Unfortunately, Rather than an actual conservation plan, Zoos tend to breed only the 'pretty' animals which people want to see and gorp at. While they may well breed endangered species, very very few zoos actually release any animals back into the wild, let alone even giving a second thought to habitat conservation - the true route of conservation. No, the animals bred in captivity stay in captivity permanently most of the time, staying in the captivity circle and distributed among other zoos, circuses, laboratories and in plenty of cases the black market or merely discarded into the trash after being killed. It is usually too far an inconvenience to send them all the way to their natural habitat for which they crave.

Here is a Lord Howe Island phasmid currently a part of a captive breeding program by Melbourne Zoo. Hardly a pretty animal. The plan is to get rid of rodents from the main island and then reintroduce it. Currently it only survives in the wild on Ball's pyramid.

Lord Howe Island Stick Insect | Zoos Victoria

There are undoubtedly unscrupulous operators trying to make money about of animals, however it's probably a good idea not to generalize.

There are zoos that do important conservation work. I support work to save endangered native species.

 

[Remus]

I'm not an animal activist or anything like that. I do find zoos tragic and stopped going long, long ago. It's the ape house that gets to me the most.

 

[R3K]

Well, the ones they want to save include animal species which have basically no hope of ever existing on this planet in the wild, including Pandas. Millions and millions are wasted on Panda Conservation but why then, if there is no hope for Pandas, why do we continue to conserve them while there are an estimated 40 plus animae species and types, some of which we may not have even known existed, going extinct every day with little or no effort made for them? The truth is that Pandas are not as important for the environment as these 40 species being wiped out each day are, and Pandas happen to generate a LOT of revenue, running well into the £Millions. Business not Conservation.This applies to other animals too.
Granted some Zoos may have good intentions, but habitat conservation is the only way, otherwise any breeding program is a waste of time.
Of course Zoos spend a lot on 'enrichment', it has to look good to customers or they wont attend, trouble is that an enclosure can look great, but contain some very depressed animals.

Does an elephant want to be in snow?
Does a lion want to eat pre killed food all the time?
Does a monkey want to hit into some metal bars when it wants to explore?
Would you mind being in prison?

I have to agree with this... the corporate owners of zoos can put 100% of the zoo's profits into perfecting the habitat, diet and exercise of the animals... but it's still cruel.

2nd and 3rd generation slaves who were born in America after their parents had arrived didn't even have to be "broken"... because they were born as slaves in shackles. They had no concept of freedom.

we as humans have already f*cked up the world and most or all of the animals we haven't wiped out (like the bison in America). best thing we can do is cordon-off HUGE expanses of wilds and let the animals be. study and help them, but don't cage them in anything smaller than a friggin coliseum xD.

... is what I say, idk it's just my opinion.

also this:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqvAM0tHTAA

anyone thinking about visiting seaworld or somewhere else that has whales in captivity, I dare you to watch this movie before you go.

 

[Kiwong]

Taronga Zoo is owned by the public of NSW and is non-for-profit. I do not like sea world or our porpoise pool, it is the privately owned theme parks and zoos that I see as more of a problem, in a different category to publically owned zoos.

 

[MikeyC]

I agree with everything, especially the hypocrite part, which can go for anyone who claims they love all animals yet eats some of them.:idontknow:

If I recall, you said you're "trying" to go vegan, which means you eat meat, right? Does that also make you a hypocrite?

Eating animals is not limited to humans, and there are many people in the world who eat meat, yet wish for the ethical treatment of animals (which includes ethical killing). Whenever I eat a hamburger I like to hope the cow I'm eating was killed ethically, however I can't actually go back in time and check that.

I don't like zoos (even though some do good work with conservation as Kiwong pointed out), and I hate pet shops a bit more. I don't like circuses due to their treatment of animals. I don't like bear/dog/chicken fights which pit one animal against the other in horrible conditions for money. Most omnivores would tell you the same thing, too.

But I suppose none of that matters because I'm a hypocrite.