Zoos

What do you guys think about zoos? I am a little confused. I have heard that they are good for keeping animals that are in some type of danger...but then again, I can't help but be saddened by the conditions of even the "best" zoos in the US. I mean, the pens are so small and the animals are not in their natural environment. What is the truth about zoos?? I have a practice of never paying to go to the zoo, but I will go if they have a free day. The only thing I buy is food to feed the goats and giraffe. I can't resist...I LOVE goats!

 

i just went to a zoo on friday. it was the linkin park zoo in chicago. i was surprised at the conditions. the zebras looked so sad; they weren't even running around. just standing in their pen looking depressed. the primates seemed happier.
i don't know about zoos either. since most of the animals in zoos are born in captivity, i don't even know if they could survive outside of the zoo which is also extremely sad. poor animals.

 

while zoo's are good in some ways - like helping those animals in danger. I feel preserves should be the focus. Our continued fragmentation of habitats is the most horrible by product of our existence as humans. If only the animals good talk to us.......then maybe we'd care more as a species

 

I think preserves would be better too. I've only been to one zoo...it didn't have any cages. There were fenced in areas, but all the animals had a lot of space. The monkeys had little islands they stayed on with jungle gyms... it was cute, but I still feel bad that they couldn't be free. I think the only animals that should be held in captivity are those that are seriously endangered.

I loved feeding the goats too... they were adorable. I also got to feed a giraffe, that was gross.

 

The San Diego Wild Animal Park, is the best one I've ever seen. They have vast amounts of land and they allow the animals to live in conditions that are very close to their natural habitats.

But, I too have reservations about zoos. So many animals aren't properly cared for, it's so sad. But we are losing so many species of animals, soon that will be the only place they're left.

 

Gotta take it on a zoo by zoo basis. There's some zoo's where they ALL they car about is putting animals on display and making a profit. Then there's zoo's where animals are rehabilitated, or they might have breeding programs for endangered species. Check 'em out a little first so you know what your money is supporting

 

I recently heard....I think was the San Fransico or San Diego Zoo......gave it's elephants up to the elephant sanctuary after admitting that elephant's true needs cannot be met in a zoo's enviorment. I was pleased to hear that, and I have always agreed. As far as my view on Zoo's in general, it is sort of a love/hate relationship I have with it.

 

some zoos are better than others when it comes to decent space. its takes time and money for these improved habitats.

 

Like some people said, some zoos are decent. They can provide a service to the public by informing them of animals that are endangered and can encourage people to learn more about how their actions affect animals on the other side of the planet.
I've never been to a zoo where I didn't feel sorry for the animals. But, many zoos are the only place where a population of endangered animals is left, breeding programs there are the only way to perpetuate the species. That is a sad fact, lets hope not too many more species need that assistance just to maintain their existence.
I think there should be fewer zoos, and those should be of better quality. We don't need these small, poorly-maintained zoos that no one visits anyways. I know several just in my area. Zoos should try to duplicate the species' natural environment and only large zoos can afford to do that. So, as long as they are informative and not overly cruel to the animals (locking them up is somewhat cruel), zoos can be OK.

 

I love zoos provided they're done well. The National zoo near my house is pretty good, and the animals are wonderful -- they have two of only 8 pandas in captivity. They're used in a breeding program to keep the panda species alive and well. (Pandas are notorious for not having sex, that's why they're endangedered!)

Pittsburgh has a nice zoo with a suprise -- the only Komodo dragon in captivity in America. What a cool animal, it looks like a GD dinosaur! Think of a 10 foot long Iguana.

Back home in Alabama, there was a neat zoo in Montgomery where, instead of pens with animals in them, the animals roamed freely in a habitat made to look like hte African Serengeti. The predators were seperated from the prey, of course;-)

 

habitat zoos are so far superior to regular zoos that they can hardly be put in the same category! the asheboro zoo in north carolina is a habitat zoo and i think it's quite wonderful. but the dc zoo freaked me out, with the little cages. growing up going to the nc zoo spoiled me and when i was little i thought that's how they all were.

 

Zoos have a tendency to make me sad as well. I don't really visit them. The last time I went to a zoo was Chicago and there was this monkey behind glass. He was swinging around and around but couldn't go anywhere and kept swinging up to the glass to look at the people. The people are all snapping their cameras. I felt sick to my stomach.

I know there are zoos where the animals are well taken care of but generally if asked to go on a trip to the zoo I decline.

 

When I visted Mexico I went to a local tourist attraction/zoo. The animals' enclosures were very small and mostly concrete............and there was some sort of exotic monkey in a fairly small wire cage. He just lay there on his side staring at all the people surrounding the cage...he looked so sad. The images of that place still haunt me and I wonder how people can give places like that their business with good concience. ( I would not have gone but I was a minor at the time and had to go along with the adults)

 

The zoo near my house is pretty good, they have this humungous Native bird santuary where the birds can just fly around any do their own thing. Its quite similar to the Native bushes Around New Zealand. Its excellent.

The other animals are kept in their own enclosers, they dont look like they have fences because they've been covered up with trees and and stuff. The animals have so much space to run around and do their thing. The Auckland Zoo is great aswell. The all have their own places and huge spaces too.

The zoos here are great. What you really should be asking is, "is tiger island in dreamworld Australia, actually a good thing?"
Even tho they think they are doing a good thing, I still think its sad that they're taking away the tigers right to be a predator. Its quite demeaning and sad.
http://www.dreamworld.com.au/dw/dre...14A256DC6000DC1B3?OpenDocument&L1=Attractions

 

zoo"s are evil ..................WAKE UP AND SMELL THE COFFEE HIPPIES..........how would you like it bein locked up 20 hours of a day...............animals and humans should be free.so this thread is a bit pointless init dickheads. .....call yerselfs hippies.......................oh sometimes i wonder

 

better living in a zoo than extinct.

i did have a moment with a chimp at the Seatlle one...we were3 looking into each others eyes, he knew I was oin the outside and he was in the inside, I noticed his gfingernails were just like mine, and then we talked about our great great grandfather.

Zoos I've liked have been the San Diego and Seattle ones.

 

Yeah that's true. Many zoos do good work in conserving species which might soon become extinct. Orang-utans and gorillas may be extinct in the wild in the next 20 years or so if things don't change in their natural habitats of southeast asia and africa respectively. There are bad zoos but there are good ones too, large safari parks are better and nature reserves even better still.

 

quote seamonster66 =he was on inside you were on outside .did that make you more superior man.why dont yer add another 6 to yer name .lets cage you up . you say better than instinct yeah. its mankinds fault shit for brains ............

 

paulfreespirit, your brain damage is preventing you from seeing what I meant in my post, which I thought clearly demonstrated the intelligence of the chimp, who had the awareness that he was in a cage and I was not.

I mentioned nothing about being superior, please, find a christian to fight with instead of me.

 

so why did you make people who have these zoo/s richer ? as for brain damage(nice dig man). are you supperior .and i am not fighting just having a opinion ......peace