What, in this day & age, is the POINT of having zoos, & are video & net content not enough for the avg person?

Question

I just saw the Yahoo News headline, "San Francisco Zoo considered a crime scene after tiger attack," and was wondering, ...'Isn't it always?'

A few hundred years ago, in this country, we allowed &even encouraged the exploitation of entire ethnicities of people, simply because of what amounted to language barriers.

As our research capabilities evolve, they are revealing amazingly advanced levels of intelligence, ingenuity, and interaction amongst many different species of animals.
So why, when we realize other animals' import in their own families & communities, do we kidnap & hold them captive, in environments only anemically resembling their native ones?

Consider how you would you like it if you were randomly trapped, taken away from everything dear & familiar to you, & put on display for the edutainment of a species, who had other means of examining our species?
'How inhumane are we willing to be, in the name of arrogance?

Answer 1

I'm with you; I don't see the need to cage animals for our amusement. It degrades our species as well as theirs.

P.S. - Rigo, I couldn't disagree with you more. Animals don't need our protection, they just need us to stop messing with their habitat. Besides, it really is more about our amusement than for any real scientific purpose. If we really cared for the animals we would do more in habitat conservation and let the animals be animals and not our unwilling test subjects.

Answer 2

No they're not and never will be. That's kind of like asking if a picture postcard or photographs of Rome, Paris and London not enough to get the feel of a city or country. There is absolutely nothing that takes the place of seeing someone or something up close and personal! It also makes learning about them all the more pleasurable and interesting, especially for children.

I don't quite understand how your statement about exploitation of entire ethnicities of people virtually based on language barriers fits into this subject matter. Is there some quaint analogy that I'm missing here? Can you please enlighten us and explain who the "entire ethnicities" might have been and what that has to do with Zoos?

I can agree with some of your feelings as they pertain to these beautiful animals but not all of them. Accredited zoos are doing a fine job. There is nothing to indicate that zoo animals have a shorter life span than their counterparts in the wild nor are there studies that might indicate their existence is in any way compromised under a controlled environment. Besides those facts, most zoo animals are born in zoos and have been for many years! The time has long passed since animals had to be trapped in the wild and brought to zoos around the world unless it's a matter of extinction or health concern.

Your last sentence asks, how inhumane we are willing to be in the name of arrogance? How about this. I've listed only one site among many that exist on the Internet for your reading and educational pleasure. Read the part about the extinction of the Java tiger in the 1980's. Talk to me about inhumanity again after you read that extinction of the Java tiger would have been prevented if they had been allowed only some to be taken to a zoo for preservation! Today, this beautiful "Cat" is just a memory or a picture postcard.

Answer 3

I agree with your points, but there are several others to consider here. Kids love zoos for one, its very exciting to see these animals in the flesh. There is so much for them to be learned that you really cant internalize from so-called TVs or video clips. Also, orphan cubs that may not have been able to survive in the wild may actually be able to live somewhat of a life inside the zoo, although i agree that it is hardly optimal. Third and most importantly, habitat is shrinking every day for these great beasts, and many are shot by poachers. A lot of this happens in third world countries where corrupt law enforcement does very little to counter the poachers. There are not many tigers left in the wild, and the places that the can live in the wild are dwindling. We might almost need zoos as a back-up if these morons who shoot tigers and degrade their habitats cause them to go extinct. The only way i would agree that we dont need zoos anymore was if these animals habitats were preserved intact, and there was adequate protection for them so they would not be randomly shot on sight.

Answer 4

I've watched at least 3 news stories about the tiger attack in San Francisco. In each one, someone said "No one knows why the tiger got out"... No one knows? She got out because she had no business being locked up in "habitat" jail.

Rigo, if humans became extinct except for you and a woman who were held captive in a Martian zoo, would you be so happy that the species was "saved"?

I can't stand to go to zoos anymore, no matter how "fabulous" the habitat/compound is. It's still a compound. The animals are not happy. They should be loose in their own native territories.

Answer 5

I don't believe zoos EVER had a point - watching these creatures experiencing a slow and cruel death has never made sense to me. The excuse was supposedly that as their habitats were destroyed, they'd save the species.

save them for what? future generations of lions and tigers and bears knowing no other life than inside a cage does not a lion, a tiger, or a bear make. All it makes are caged animals. Reminds me of Rene Magritte's painting of a pipe inscribed, "Ceci n'est pas une pipe" ('this is not a pipe').

How arrogant can we be under the guise of being humane? There is no limit.

Answer 6

Why should you visit France if you've seen some videos of it on YouTube?

We gain from experience and learning with these animals, and a lot of times, these animals you're claiming are imprisoned because of our "superiority" has a lot to do with protection. A lot of animals inside zoos are endangered species, and allowing them to live and hopefully breed under capitivity will help restore the population and help keep the species alive because of other human actions such as deforestation, hunting, etc. Many species would have been extinct had it not been for some of these zoos, and some species only exist in captivity now since the wild ones are all dead.

Most people who work in the Zoological field have a great passion and respect for animals and nature, and you're acting like it's some sort of Coproration that tests lye on bunny rabbits.

Answer 7

That real-life stink?