Zoos are actually beneficial for the animals residing

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   silverstararrowposted 12 years ago

   Are animals treated well in zoos the world over? I've come across various instances of animals dying in zoos because of disease and malnutrition. Though this may not be the case everywhere, it isn't an easily dismissible fact either. Are zoos really a safe haven for wild animals?

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      Melissa A Smithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's really going to depend on the country and the zoo, they are vastly different. There are good schools and bad schools, good doctors and bad doctors, ect. Also, some species are treated better than others. I observed that while visiting the National Zoo, but it was mostly a great zoo. If animals are on display dying, I can take a good bet that this is a beyond bad zoo.

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   Daffy Duckposted 12 years ago

   Different zoos treat animals differently.  There are some high quality zoos.  We can't look bad on all people in a specific group because of what a few do.
   
   Personally unless the animal is an endangered species they belong in the wild.  It is good for education, but if locking you up would be good for education would you be happy with that?  Just a thought.

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      Melissa A Smithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Well, I'm on a different level of consciousness than any other animal, so locking me up, and locking an animal up, are 2 different things. People would be appalled if we walked adult humans on leashes and crated them, forced them to provide transportation and pull our plows, so does that make doing so with animals wrong?

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         silverstararrowposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Well, there are so many zoos where caged animals are faced with harassment and teasing by the visitors and tourists. Locking up animals does indeed show the superior attitude of humans, when it is done more for the entertainment of the public, and less for the animal's welfare.
         
         However, that is just one perspective and applicable to limited areas.

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            Melissa A Smithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            That depends on what you mean by harassment. Maybe every now and then a moron bothers the animals, but guess what, the animals survive. I as a human do not have a perfect life. I don't think any animal does. Do you think occasional harassment is comparable to the stress of wild living?
            So what if it's for entertainment, as long as no poor messages come across? If locking up an animal makes a human feel superior I would have to ask again why should I care? Do you think the animal does?

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         Daffy Duckposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Animals have feelings.  They feel sad, mad, happy and a host of other feelings.  Just because they aren't conscious about life and death doesn't mean it's ok to cage them.
         
         The stress of them living in the wild is not new to them.  That is a part of their NATURAL life.  Animals do care about their freedom.  Since you don't care about them why should I care about you?   Goodbye 

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            Melissa A Smithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            You sound as though you have your mind made up, due to your 'goodbye'. Are you afraid you might start thinking differently if you stay? If my replies are so offensively wrong they should be easy to rebut, but all you've done was give me your emotional interpretation of how animals feel about captivity. I'm sure animals can feel very 'sad' when their life is in the process of being ended due to predation. This is also a part of our lives yet still seems to cause plenty of emotional distress. Provide proof to back up the statement "animals do care about their freedom".

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            jenb0128posted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I volunteer at a wildlife rehabilitation center that also has a "mini zoo" attached to it. The animals that live there are non-releasable. These are animals that have old injuries that will never heal properly (there are some hawks and vultures who can't fly due to old wing injuries, for instance), or they are imprinted because they were raised by humans, and therefore have no fear of humans. There's no way to fix the injuries of any of these animals, so if they weren't "education animals," the Department of Natural Resources would force us to have them euthanized. These animals are well loved and cared for. They get plenty of interaction and enrichment. No, their lives aren't "natural," but at least they have a life, and they seem happy or content. We've even had an owl and a turkey vulture COME BACK after getting away.
            
            I know all zoos are different. I just brought all that stuff up to point out that a natural life simply isn't possible for some animals, and that a LIFE in a zoo or nature center is their only chance of a life at all.

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   Shaddieposted 12 years ago

   Not all zoos are great. I have seen some atrocious ones in Asia (Japan), but Asia has some really funny laws about animal husbandry standards in general...
   
   I have never personally seen a "bad zoo" here in the United States, but I know there exists improperly cared for facilities just like with anything we come across in life. I think zoos can be amazing, beautiful places for animals, and through conservation and education are helping animals every day.
   
   The zoos in my home state of Washington both work together to breed, raise, and release the rare Columbia spotted frog, which are disappearing due to habitat destruction and invasive bullfrog predation.

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