Zoos - Should they still be a thing?

Avenged7Fold

Avenged7Fold

Avenged7Fold

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Now i have never considered myself an animal activist. Obviously i object to cruelty and abuse but who doesn't?

Saw this today:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/11/13/zoo-admits-second-lynx-died-escaped-animal-shot-dead/

So basically it is just standard zoo story where animals have been poorly handled and managed that led to their deaths.

When i was a kid i loved the zoo, as i grew older i became increasingly anti-zoo. Centers for animal breeding, open safari parks i can understand if ran correctly but zoos are generally not a particularly nice looking places and obviously busy with people. A good friend of mine is a animal trainer at a zoo and she says that some some few animals tend to be happy in captivity but only because they get a large amount of attention and 'play time' with their trainers.

So, should zoos be a thing of the past?
 
I'm not a fan of them but I do see how they can help conservation efforts by highlighting the plight of some animals. It's a bit of a crap way to do some good.
Did you see the photo recently of some Indians throwing burning tar on a baby elephant? Made me sick.
 
I think they should be heavily regulated.


I get the impression they're a part of the conservation effort but it seems weird that they're only doing it for money making. If anything having the last surviving member of a species would be a pull and increase profits so it doesn't do them much good to try and expand the species.

On one hand I'd like them gone as I can't imagine any animal unless bred in captivity being overly happy with the living arrangements. On the other they are an asset to education be it through school or family trips.
 
Yes, they can be extremely educational, good fun for a day out, and can do a huge amount of good in terms of breeding and conservation.

But yeah, they should be well regulated as bad zoos are basically horrendous.
 
Zoos that do a great deal of conservation & research work, yes. Those that don't, no. I'm being extremely broad here.
 
I've always been on the fence with Zoos.
On one hand, a lot of these animals are not in very nice enclosures and I find it rather cruel in some situations.
On the other hand there's a lot of conservation, research and breeding work carried out by zoos. They're also VERY educational, in fact only a month ago i went with my partner and a load of kids (she runs a local Brownie group) to a zoo and it was good to see the kids so excited, interested and enthusiastic.

I would certainly push for rigorous and heavy regulations if there is evidence that zoo animals have been treated in a very poor way.
 
Possibly out of date info - but I recall being taught that every penny put into zoo conversation efforts would be worth a £1 towards conserving actual environments (which don’t only protect singular species but everything else within that environment). So whilst they have a place in respect of conservation efforts it’s only a relatively small contribution in any meaningful sense. Of course, conserving environments can be impracticable.

Edit - Sorry, that’s a mess to read! The jist is that the conservation efforts of zoos are welcome but pretty insignificant compared to what could be done if conservation money was spent elsewhere.

Zoos are exciting and education for children, so they have a place, although in a world of increasing media accessibility their actual need is certainly diminishing.
 
Most zoos are involved in conservation efforts and they give millions of people the chance to see animals that they'd never get the chance to in person. I'm vegetarian and have financially supported a lot of animal charities over the years. If a zoo has bad conditions then that needs to be fixed. Animals have to be well cared for. But they do have a lot of value.
 
Conservation side, yes but I am not a fan of them. I will never forget my first zoo trip, I think not too long after I arrived in the UK, to London zoo. The tiger/big cat looked like it wanted to find the nearest bridge 10 times over, perhaps it was just bored but for some reason that image has always stuck with me. Heavy regulation perhaps but if I got bummed out by London zoo as a child, God knows what more dodgy zoos around the world are like.
 
don't think as an adult I've ever been to a zoo that I enjoyed. the worst being la palmyre zoo near la Rochelle in france. elephants trapped on small 'islands' of land with a trench round them. they looked genuinely unhappy. polar bears in a tank of water I could have swam across in 2 or 3 stokes - one of the bears kept swimming face first into the glass, repeatedly. of course everyone was cheering and thought it was great fun. to me it just looked like the animal had some sort of mental issue (who wouldn't being cooped up like that)

I get that zoos have a place in the world, what with their conservation and breeding programs but I some are run purely as a 'money maker' with next to no concern for the animals - these should be done away with and the owners charged with some kind of criminal offence. as others have said the zoo industry needs to be heavily regulated.

word of warning, do NOT ever visit Belfast zoo. what a thoroughly awful and depressing place.
 
Been to a few places and not seen a zoo that sits right with me yet.

Worst was near Nagoya in Japan. Seen a polar bear in a windowed box barely able to turn his body around, swinging his head side to side in a kind of manic state.

I dread to think how poor the conditions are in underdeveloped countries.

Get rid imo.
 
Heavy regulation is needed but to be honest, there is nothing to say that zoo's and conservation efforts need go hand in hand. I think zoos have always used conservation efforts as an excuse to gain funding and improve public image. Heavy regulation as to how things are spent and conditions of enclosures should be implemented.

Yes zoos can be educational and engaging for kids but this is the 21st century, there is no need to keep animals in small enclosures to learn about them. Though not as fun for the kids, it is far less cruel and just as educational to look through cameras at a large open enclosure.
 
Having been a zookeeper for the day this summer, then I have to stand in the "Yes, Zoo's still have a place" camp.
A rescue centre for small primates, birds of prey and reptiles.

Every one of the animals there was fed, sheltered and cared for having been previously raised in crap conditions by humans.
They'd still be in those crap conditions or dead.

Zoo's are under enormous pressure financially, and different parts of the world have different standards of how to keep animals locked up humanely.
 
As has been already said, there's a lot more involved in zoos than most people realise. There's not only the conservation and education parts, they are also refuges for animals that can't go back to the wild for whatever reason. Also, most zoos have testing areas and labs that are used for other testing including forensics and criminology testing. Most zoos in the uk are charity's aswell, and are heavily regulated both financially and by animal care. Most cases we see on tv are issues caused by select people who don't follow the rules that they should.

I should mention that I have quite close relations with some of the zoos in the uk and that although not totally unbiased, I think, like everything else it's one of those things people need to look beyond newspapers and tv. Some of the work done to keep certain species alive and breeding rather than being wiped out by us uncaring humans is quite astounding.

Of course not all zoos in the world are perfect. Mistakes are made sometimes but it's certainly not on the level of most Asian countries.
 
skyripper said:
Having been a zookeeper for the day this summer, then I have to stand in the "Yes, Zoo's still have a place" camp.
A rescue centre for small primates, birds of prey and reptiles.

Every one of the animals there was fed, sheltered and cared for having been previously raised in crap conditions by humans.
They'd still be in those crap conditions or dead.

Zoo's are under enormous pressure financially, and different parts of the world have different standards of how to keep animals locked up humanely.
Click to expand...

But how were the conditions in the zoo? Did they mirror the amount of land/water space those animals would naturally use?
 
peterwalkley said:
A Zoo done right such as Chester is excellent. Unfortunately very few are of this standard.
Click to expand...
Chester Zoo was recently rated as the third best zoo in the world. It's really not fair to condemn the concept of zoos in general based on bad ones, when the good ones - like Chester - are so damn good.
 
robgmun said:
I honestly thought they were, if not they should be!!
Click to expand...

There are some regulations but they're not very exacting or potentially enforcement is lacking in some areas. Admittedly I've only ever been to two zoos one was brilliant, everything seemed clean and purpose built for the animal the other was more akin to an observation tank needing repair.

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/keeping-zoo-animals
(thinks those are the correct ones. There's a link to the full regs in there)
 
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