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“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated.”
―Gandhi
I believe Gandhi said that to avert attention from the horrible conditions that millions of his country folk lived in each and every day of their lives. He also Is also reported to have slept with nude young girls to show his 'restraint and purity'.
Does anyone stop to think where those cute babies go when they get older? The zoo can't handle that many cute baby this and thats. They give them away to circuses and zoos in other countries. It's a mess. If a zoo is breeding for "conservation" purposes: ridiculous. They're breeding to bring people and profits in. Period.
That is not true of accredited zoos. Maybe the road side zoos, but not the ones that are actually concerned with conservation.
The animals are shared with other zoos in North America. The St. Louis zoo recently got a two year old polar bear. He came from the Baltimore zoo where he had outgrown his habitat (The St. Louis Zoo built him a brand new habitat).
The young lions were recently sent to a zoo on the east coast.
The male and female tigers are kept separate because they no longer want them to breed. They don't care about having baby animals, they care about the survival of the species.
Look around this and many other forums and the news you will find out differently.........
(<<--- is quite unnecessary to use as it makes you appear very immature and unable to make a statement that is serious.)
OK, sorry for the silly emoticon. I stand by my statement. This particular thread was about zoos, aquariums, and circuses. That's what people are responding to.
I don't think you all understand animal life .
in the wild these animals live in fear 24/7 /365 bad weather and good sleet snow and starving to death or being eaten .
Particularly in the ocean.
Animals in a human controlled environment, have better chance at survival than in the wild.
Can you afford to take your kids deep sea diving ,or hiking through the jungle or in the great white north ? answer the question.
Obviously no.
Even if you did you would never see all there is to see in the zoos and aquariums .
NEVER, not in a lifetime.
There are thousands of dollars invested in acquiring and learning what the animal needs to survive before it can ever be brought to a zoo. the over head is tremendous.
Be thankful these places exist because when there gone ,it will probably never happen again and your grand kids my not have that privilege.
I think we understand animal life very well. Well enough to take issue with taking them out of their natural habitat purely to entertain, no matter what the cost to the animal. The highly intelligent dolphins swimming in circles in small tanks until they are brought out to perform shows for us are not better off. The elephant calfs removed from their mothers to be trained for circus life are not better off. And the list goes on.
Zoos do help conserve critically endangered species. Of course, humans are the reason they are endangered to begin with. But you can't compare an accredited zoo to Sea World, or Ringling Bros, who exist to make money off the exploitation of animals.
There is no way to see every animal in the wild. Why is it necessary to do so? A documentary on polar bears will provide more information than spotting them off a boat anyway, and is safer for both people and the bears.
One of my great regrets is that I took my kids to the Ringling Bros circus. I know they have been found innocent of abusing animals, but it still bothers me that wild animals are being used to entertain us, in a manner far removed from their natural behavior and habitat. And many circuses do resort to abusive training techniques.
Aquariums are also under fire for the cramped quarters they house ocean dwellers in. "Blackfish" has had a big impact on ticket sales at Sea World, and the Atlanta (where I live) Aquarium is constantly dogged by negative publicity.
I don't have a personal vendetta against most zoos. I think they provide a necessary service to insure endangered species don't disappear. But, I will no longer support either circuses or aquariums, and I have gotten some push back from relatives over it.
How do you handle it when kids want to see animals outside their natural habitats?
I've been to both Seaworld twice (FL and CA). We have a marine aquarium here, that is very popular as well, my son and I have been several times. I've been to many many zoos. I've been to the circus, twice, once with my son. I regret nothing.
His school goes to the circus every year.
The bronx zoo in nyc is highly accredited and yes I do support them 100% I also have a free pass ( I still donate )I have a pass to almost all museums and zoo's in nyc but not the aquarium.
I have taken him to the aquarium once because it is very expensive between the tickets and paying for parking.
That is a tough one. Did I take my sons to zoos? Yes. Do I agree with zoos? No.
If I was an endangered species I still would not want to be locked up.
I do not believe they were innocent of abusing animals. Why would they be carrying around whips with them?
I took my sons too, I wish I hadn't.
I think all 3 have different missions/purposes, to answer the question.
I want to try to clarify the whip question. I've worked with horses, though I'm not a trainer. When you work with one there are all kinds of training tools including what some people call whips. They are not used to administer abuse. Large animals are potentially dangerous. In the wild, the leaders discipline the lower ranking with bites, kicks and charges that would no doubt kill a human. In a training situation the human has to establish himself as the leader so the animal will be the follower. In most cases you make NOT obeying less comfortable than obeying. You can apply pressure with a whip without even touching the animal.
If you abuse animals they will not be good performers. I think circuses can highlight the abilities and talents of the animals and it gives them a job. Not to ridicule them but to showcase them. They are loved and cared for, I believe. There are sanctuaries that are questionable - like not wanting human interaction to move elephants even when wildfires are blazing nearby.
The circus no. The zoo.... it depends. The aquarium....... guess I never really thought of it the same way.
The Zoos we go to claim to have some sense of rescue, and seem to care. But I still have issues with them. I guess I justify it in my mind that in some cases its better than being poached.
We have memberships at the San Diego Zoo (and Safari Park) and the Aquarium of the Pacific, so we take the kids several times a year. When we travel, if there's a great zoo or aquarium in the area (like the Monterey Bay Aquarium), we take them there too.
The kids enjoy seeing the live animals a lot more than they enjoy watching them on TV (at least at this very young age), and I'm hoping that the enthusiasm and curiosity will continue and grow as they get older.
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(<<--- is quite unnecessary to use as it makes you appear very immature and unable to make a statement that is serious.)
