Wall of Mouths

mmm… seems like bea has moved to holland with victor, according to the zoo-website.
(moving from belgium to holland - hello?????? strange animals… :D)

Yeah especially the widely publicised attempt to help the pandas breed. I guess for some animals, particularly those who are hunted for tusks, pelts whatever, have an oppurtunity to live a safer life in a zoo. but should they be making money from this? “we have rare and endangered animals, come watch and buy souvenirs?”

Its money thats the bottom of it. an endangered animal is more interesting to look at than a sheep or a cow. i think most zoos would love to get their hands on an endangered animal, to boost revenue.

hoochalobster wrote:

I dislike zoos in general, except in circumstances where they are breeding rare animals captively with a view to releasing them and increasing the wild population.

Agreed. It works for the panda, the tiger, apes and quite some other species but there are animals like (polar) bears that cannot be bread for this purpose and they should not be held captive ever. That’s also why I hate circusses. I think it’s pure animal torture and it makes me so fucking angry!!! :mad: Animals, even the largest and strongest, cannot defend themselves against human agression. We have to stand up for them!

rocking roxy wrote:

but i think zoos are often also needed liked said before, to help the populations…and there are many animals in zoos, which are not even excisting outside of the zoos anymore.

and there can be also real good examples of trying to do the best for the animals, like the zoo in arnhem…there it’s more the animals are “outside” and the visitors are walking through “cages” and they try to keep the life for the animals interesting, like they have to do s.th for reaching the food

Port Lympne & Howletts are both pretty good - they do a lot of breeding of rare animals (the baby rhino there rocks!), the animals all have lots of space (which unfortunately means they are often a long way off) & they all look well looked after (probably why entry is so pricey). I agree that zoos per se are not a great thing but in these circumstances I think they are. Also, there is now a massive number of animals that have been bred in captivity & have no knowledge of how to survive in the wild - zoos are needed to look after them.

Hmm, the best way to make animals fit for surviving in their natural environment would mean to equip them with firearms to fend off poachers.

3ddo-on-the-balcony wrote:

They have to stop breeding those animals, so they eventually are no longer held in captivity. If zoos really care for animals, they should change from what they are now to breeding insitutes for animals that have a big chance of surviving in the wild. I would support that by visiting and donations.

The more progressive ones are thankfully moving in that direction, and as you say, if they continue to do so, you’ll visit them, so it makes commercial sense too. Jersey Zoo would be another good example. I <suspect> most in the UK are going in this direction now.

hoochalobster wrote:

I’m reading a book called Setting Free The Bears at the moment, it’s about these guys who decide to release all the animals from the zoo in Vienna - I shall let you know if their plan worked when I’ve finished it :D

you wouldn’t believe how many times i’ve started that book, i just can’t get into it :rolleyes: …and its weird cos he’s one of my fav authors…must try to start it again!!