Is it right to keep animals in the zoo?

Daenerys

Daenerys

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Is it right or wrong to keep animals in a zoo?

i say its wrong to keep animals in a zoo - if they are ever released into the wild they will be totally unable to support themselves as they will be dependent on the humans that raised them, and eventually over generations their natural predator instincts will be breeded out of them, so we are ineviatbly causing more damage to the environment then we are saving the environment.

your thoughts?
 
M'kay, here's my views on this.

I believe that animals should be in a place they call "home". Where is that, you ask? The wilds, of course...or wherever it is they live in. However, the main purpose for keeping animals at the zoo is to prevent them from going extinct. Oh and of course, let's not forget "entertainment" and making money off of it.

To be honest, I get depressed sometimes when I go to the zoo. But that's just me though. Call me weird or whatever. Hmm, I hate it when animal trainers abuse the animals too. I've seen them abuse elephants and other animals on T.V.

So I guess, in a way, I'm neutral here, but leaning more towards to letting the animals have their lives back in the wilds.
 
ahhh but what about animals born in captivity? if they were released into the wild then they would be killed amzingly quick what about that? hmmmm lol just thought i should start a debate
 
Well, if these animals were going to go extinct and they lived in the wild, then you bred them in captivity because you didn't want them to go extinct, they would have anyways if you either let them go or didn't put them in captivity, wouldn't they? The reason these animals are going extinct is because they cannot adapt to the current environment they are living in, and if you give them a new environment by breeding them in captivity, they may have a chance to survive. Maybe they're not suited to natural selection because they lack the ability to survive in a particular environment, but we don't wish to see certain animals going extinct because we don't operate on the mechanisms or criteria of natural selection necessarily. I'm not advocating that it's alright to keep animals in a zoo. I don't go to the zoo very often anyways. But if there was someone who wanted to keep animals in a zoo because they were going extinct and couldn't survive otherwise, I can't see the problem there.
 
I'm not entirely sure, to be honest. I think that the intentions were good, originally, but no one realised what it might be doing to the animal in the long run. It might save the individual animal, but what of the offspring?

I don't like to think that animals in the wild have been captured in their free environment into tiny enclosures. Surely the small, monotonous space would drive anyone crazy, nevermind an animal.

I'm quite on the fence. I don't think it should ever have been done in the first place, but now that it's here and alive, I kind of see it as an act of love, or care. If I see a bird that can't fly, I'll feel hesitant to go away and leave it. I hear a dog in distress, I'll go looking for it, or look out the window to see if someone's hurting it. Fitting in with this desire to helo animals, for quite some time I've wanted to become a vet.

I just don't know, really.
 
It's not ideal, but to preserve some species, we have to do this, until the world learns how climate change is affecting some animals, and until human ignorance stops, and innocent creatures will no longer be on the food market for example.

That's not going to happen for a long time though is it?
 
Squall's Gunblade said:
ahhh but what about animals born in captivity? if they were released into the wild then they would be killed amzingly quick what about that? hmmmm lol just thought i should start a debate
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Well, that's why they should put the animals born in captivity in a very large caged-environment first, a place where it's as close as it can get to the wilds. Let them get adapted to the change in environment. But then that might cost them a lot. Even still, if that was done, then they'll have a better chance at survival when they are released in the wild.
 
Unfortunately, adaptation isn't limited to how you raise the animals in question. In fact, how you raise them is completely irrelevant since it won't change their genes. If you can train them to adapt, their offspring will have to go through the same things as well. In the end, it would mean they could not live in the wild independently from whatever support you may have provided them so that they could live. Unless you can breed them to survive better and risk possibly creating a new species in the process and make the old one go extinct, there is no other way in which you can preserve those species.
 
Zoo's have become less and less popular over the last 20 years, as have circuses involving animals. It's amazing that in this fucked up world where it seems that everything is going wrong, our attitude to animals has improved dramatically.

In the negative way that the media can make an unjust war seem just, it can also make the positive move of informing us on the importance of our environment.

Sanctuarys are taking over from zoo's. I am better informed (I adopted a wolf, my favorite animal, she's called Kaya). The East is learning that more money can be made from tourism than animal pelts. Now if we could just get those fuckers in Alaska to stop shooting Wolves for fun then I'd feel a hell of a lot better.

Just for the record, I'm not an activist. I eat meat and believe it is okay to do so, but I only buy from ethically approved sources, usually the local farmers market.

I also don't object to hunting, providing you eat the animal you are hunting.
 
We also have to consider that most zoos are also conservation organizations, and do a lot of work to increase populations of endangered species, protect endangered wildlife, or study rare species for academic/scientific purposes.
 
without zoos, animals would be poached into extinction, or they'll run out of food because there foos source has been extinct or declining.

We as humans are in a zoo... we're stuck in the monotonous life of going to work and getting money to buy food. Its not like we're living in caves and just finding food the natural way. If we were let go into the "wild", alot of us would be screwed haha
 
Well i've been last time in a Zoo before about 6 years.
Hm you know i think in one way its good because there are so many Typs of animals they are extinct and some become extinct so i like to believe a zoo is helping that they are not to become extinct.
In the other Way shure i'd like to see them in the wild,but would it be real better for them than?
I'm not so shure about that because there is not much food out there so wouldent they start searching there food somerwere else?
 
Like most things, zoos have their dark and light sides.

The downside to this is that it deprives an animal of its freedom. And its likely that there are millions of corrupted zoos out there that just do it for the money and ultimately just abuse the animals and milk them of their worth. Sometimes even kill them if they feel the animal has outlived its purposes, i.e. making money.:mad:

On the other hand zoos increase awareness and protect endangered species from becoming more endangered. As some of you have already pointed out, preserves are becoming a major part of this new conservation movement that we're experiencing. If only more of these were created it would create an artificial habitat that is close enough to home for the creatures.

Just some thoughts. I look at everything this way and no, I can't really say zoos are good or bad because they are a little bit of both.
 
Well is it right to keep a fish in a fish tank??? or keep ur dogs in kennels?? or even your horse in a stable, these are some things u have to ask your self
 
I don't think it's right to keep animals in the zoo.
Most of the animals in zoos all look depressed and lonely.

I also agree that it's wrong to keep some animals domestically.
Plenty of people don't know how to take care of animals.
I say...if you plan on keeping a pet in a cage, you may as well just not have it. Caging an animal up is a horrible thing to do.

My (almost inlaw); my fiance's mother lives in the same house as we do, and she keeps a pet rabbit in the back yard. She keeps it in a small cage behind the garage, in a shadow, with a piece of carpet over the cage which is full of stench and mold. The rabbits cage has no padding or cushions on the floor and it's claws clearly get frequently caught between the cage-wire and break off. There are plants growing so high around the cage, that they've grown into the wiring. There are rabbit turds pilled high inside and below the cage, and when it rains, the rabbit steps in his own wet feces and gets covered in poop. And the cage has rips and tears where he tried to chew his way out. Every time I go into the back yard, the rabbits food is clumped together and stagnant, and he has no water.

I've been taking care of the rabbit in secret ever since I found out that it lives back there. I take it out of the cage while it's gone, and feed it fresh salad and fruit on a daily basis.

Like I said.
Some people do NOT know how to care for animals, and some people should NOT be allowed to own animals PERIOD.
 
Booger said:
I don't think it's right to keep animals in the zoo.
Most of the animals in zoos all look depressed and lonely.

I also agree that it's wrong to keep some animals domestically.
Plenty of people don't know how to take care of animals.
I say...if you plan on keeping a pet in a cage, you may as well just not have it. Caging an animal up is a horrible thing to do.

My (almost inlaw); my fiance's mother lives in the same house as we do, and she keeps a pet rabbit in the back yard. She keeps it in a small cage behind the garage, in a shadow, with a piece of carpet over the cage which is full of stench and mold. The rabbits cage has no padding or cushions on the floor and it's claws clearly get frequently caught between the cage-wire and break off. There are plants growing so high around the cage, that they've grown into the wiring. There are rabbit turds pilled high inside and below the cage, and when it rains, the rabbit steps in his own wet feces and gets covered in poop. And the cage has rips and tears where he tried to chew his way out. Every time I go into the back yard, the rabbits food is clumped together and stagnant, and he has no water.

I've been taking care of the rabbit in secret ever since I found out that it lives back there. I take it out of the cage while it's gone, and feed it fresh salad and fruit on a daily basis.

Like I said.
Some people do NOT know how to care for animals, and some people should NOT be allowed to own animals PERIOD.
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Im not tring to rag on ur comment at all but are you saying its Bad to keep my horses in stables at night time?
 
Read what I said again.
I don't think it's wrong to keep horses in stables at night, not at all...

But if you read the entire paragraph I wrote, you'd see that torchering a rabbit and keeping horses in a stable for a few hours are totally different.
 
If you opened all the front doors on your block and yelled "YOU'RE FREE!" down the street, how many people do you think would actually want to run away?

Animals think the same way. If they have free shelter, free food, and no threat of predation, they'd probably be pretty happy staying right where they were. There are stories of animals that managed to escape the zoo, and when they were found a few hours later, they were waiting right inside their cage. The "wild" is not a very fun place to be, especially if you're an animal- why do you think that many of their animal exhibits were going extinct in the first place? :P
 
L U L U said:
Well is it right to keep a fish in a fish tank??? or keep ur dogs in kennels?? or even your horse in a stable, these are some things u have to ask your self
Click to expand...

But those aren't exactly zoos.
You have a more personal bond with these pets, in that you keep an eye on them yourself and it's your personal responsibility to take care of them.
 
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