Are Zoos Cruel?

[Charean]

Percival Bananas: The Zoo Rant by Tom Magliozzi

Picture this. You suddenly find yourself on the Planet of the Apes. Aside from the fact that you have to associate with Charlton Heston, life is not all that bad. Sure, you have to forage for food and live in a cave. And you can't access cartalk.com or watch "Cybill." But the apes pretty much leave you alone--although a few do think it's fun to shoot at you with guns. Then Percival Bananas--one of those tree-hugging apes with more money than brains--gets the following brilliant idea. "How about we capture a few of the 'people' and put them in cages so the kiddies can see what they look like? We'll treat them pretty well. You know, try to build a 'natural habitat' for them. Feed them every day. Even put a few males together with females and see what happens."

They get YOU.

Are you royally ticked off or what? Is it fun sitting there in the cage day after day? Is it fun having all those snotty-nosed little ape-brats passing by the cage day after day--tossing peanuts (and rocks and Twinkie wrappers) at you? Do you miss your friends? Your family? Are the days endless? Does life suck or what?

OK. You can wake up now and come back to the Planet of the People. You know--the more intelligent, more sensitive, more compassionate species.

Have you taken your kids to the zoo lately?

Why do we have zoos? You can try to rationalize this idea seven ways from Tuesday, but zoos are an incredibly cruel and abusive way to treat animals. And for what? So we can see what a panda looks like? You want to see a panda, go to China. You don't want to see a panda enough to go to China? Fine. Don't go. You won't miss the panda and the panda won't miss you. Proponents may argue that the animals are "better off" in the zoo than in their natural habitats. Percival Bananas probably said that, too. How did YOU like it? Did he ask you? Others may argue that they're saving certain species from extinction. Did the species ask them to do that? Oh, I forgot. We're so much smarter than they that we know what's best for them. Percival Bananas thought that, too.

Whose idea was this, anyway? I'll tell you whose idea it was: Rich people. It's true. Zoos date back to the ruling classes of China (according to my encyclopedia), who thought it would be "entertaining" to keep the animals.

Who the hell do we think we are? Leave the animals alone.

Every time you take your kids to the zoo, you're helping to support this cruelty. Plus, you're taking the chance that certain primates are going to fling their feces at you through the bars. And you know what? I don't blame them. Don't support the zoo. It ain't nice.

That's my opinion.

*I have a hard enough time leaving my bunnies in their cages. Most of the time I let them roam, unless they misbehave. I may not be as rabid about the subject as Tom is, but I have a difficult time going to the zoo.

I would think that you would have to go on a zoo by zoo basis. As long as the animals aren't mistreated they are definately going to be safer and more comfy in a controlled environment. nature is no fluffy bunny [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-31-2002, 02:01 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Charean]

You have a point. I would like to see more drive through preserve areas than cages, though.

When it comes to critters... I am a softie.

I know nature is harsh, but the fittest do survive that. And preserving endangered species... well, I am ambivalent on that. I think the more freedom we allow them the happier they would be. There are some animals that can't breed in captivity. That alone should tell us something.

[Arnabas]

Well, I comend some zoos for their breeding/ repopulation programs. I also appreciate those that tend to wounded animals that might not otherwise survive.
My thoughts have changed a lot over the years, but I do still believe that if kids don't get a chance to actually SEE and KNOW animals, they will be much less likely to actually CARE about them and if the next generation can't find a way to care more than we have, we'll continue to destroy these beautiful creatures. I agree with zoos to the extent that they educate people about the animals and call attention to the plight of the other denizens of our world.
Do I like seeing them caged? No. I would prefer them to be free and unmolested in the wild. But do I think that will happen? Not unless we change our attitudes about being the only life form on the planet with any real worth.

[Attalus]

I was reading an article the other day about how Bengal Tigers are endangered inthe wild, but in terms of total numbersthere are more of them now than at the turn of the last century, thanks to the breeding programs at zoos. But, yes, Charean, I hate tyo go to zoos because I feel sorry for the animals. Except the monkeys, they seem to be having a good time.

Originally posted by Charean: There are some animals that can't breed in captivity. That alone should tell us something.

Yep [img]smile.gif[/img] they are either Shy or Puritanical [img]smile.gif[/img]

[ 10-31-2002, 02:04 PM: Message edited by: MagiK ]

[Arnabas]

I only went to a zoo once, but I remember the monkeys, because there was this one male who just masterbated the whole time we watched him, stopping only to eat.
I have been to a place here called Parc Safari, which you drive through (for the most part) and that was ok. The animals had lots of room to move about.

[Charean]

Originally posted by MagiK: Yep [img]smile.gif[/img] they are either Shy or Puritanical [img]smile.gif[/img]

Gaffaw! Snort! ROFLMAO!!

[Timber Loftis]

Well, as an herbivore who is married to a past PETA-freak (lol j/k), animal rights is something I've looked into a bit.

Zoos these days are changing pretty rapidly, as are museums BTW. Rather than a cage w/ tigers, a cage w/ monkeys, etc, they are becoming more ecosystem oriented. The new exhibits are very cool indeed. At the Cincinnati zoo a couple of years ago I noticed this. They had a couple of manatees they had gotten from the Miami Seaquarium (a *wonderful* manatee recovery and catalogue program runs out of there BTW) and they used them as the centerpiece for an ecology exhibit. They are trying these days to recreate a snapshot of a particular ecosystem rather than just take the animals from it and put them on the shelf for viewing. And, there are important lessons to be taught to zoo-goers by doing this: such as using one ecology as an example to drive home the point of how all the creatures in it are interconnected. Some very cool stuff.

Museums are following a like trend. In fact the Field Museum here in Chicago has random pictures in exhibits as to "how this exhibit looked 60 years ago" to explain how they are changing. Rather than just mummies in glass cages, its Egypt exhibit now tries to show the daily lives and routines of the people of the times, down to board games they played and how they carried water, etc, etc. Important and cool way to teach history, no?

I see the zoos as a necessary evil. Education is key. As are animal recovery programs. Though I grimace when I say it, I support the enslavement of a few critters so that humans may be educated as how to preserve ecosystems and species. I try not to lose the forest while fixating on individual trees.

[/)eathKiller]

Zoos are cute but I never liked goign to them as a kid, I once was almost mauled to death by a horde of Boars... Stepped on by a zebra, ripped to sreds by a panther, and I know for a fact that running a BUS through a Free-range monkey habbitat is NOT a good idea yet all through Germany they loved stuff like that >_>

*sigh*

In the US im sure zoos arent as odd, but I would rather go to one of their national parks any day of the week!