Animals in Captivity

PJfanwillneverleave1 said:

I'm wondering why people continue to support zoos and aquariums? Why?

I think it has to do with having a difficult time as a parent explaining to your child that zoos and aquariums are not natural. Who can resist taking their child to SeaWorld or the Zoo out of morals?
If there were no zoos/aquariums around now I would be happy and it would remove the burden of guilt taking my kids to something I don't believe is right. It is hard when they really want to see that giraffe or shark. I try to bring them to local farms or animal shelters if they want to see animals but the giant aquariums and the Disneyworld jungle is pretty hard to say no to. Having said that I have great memories as a child being brought to a zoo.

its not difficult explaining to your kids that animals should not be in captivity. that is lazy parenting. I used to take my children to the zoo because its one of those 'expected' family outings. many years ago on one such visit, we were standing in front of a bear enclosure. the only thing that separated us was a small concrete moat and a concrete wall not much higher than hip height. as we stood there I watched my children look at this bear as it paced back and forth distressed(probably depressed as well) ,making moves to breach the moat, looking for a way out. I thought hmmm time to move away. that was my epiphany moment. ive not been to a zoo since and refused all requests. I explained my stance and that's the end of it. my children understand my reasoning and now that theyre older its their choice. theres nothing sadder than watching a magnificent predator being handed their food, a cheetah not being able to stretch out at a full run(or any run at all) or an orca performing for the amusement of humans then being returned to what is essentially a fish tank. you can say no, just back it up with reasoning. children understand a lot more than we give them credit for.

eddiec said:

The average zoo is just a prison. Your kids want to see a giraffe? Take them to Africa. You can't afford that? Too bad, your kid doesn't get to see a giraffe.

U.S. prisons are some of the most culturally diverse places on the planet. If your kid wants to learn about Korean people why don't you take them to a prison that has some Korean inmates? Why not? Because there is no culture in a prison. Just like in a zoo. It's not the wild nor does it resemble real life. In fact, it teaches your kids that incarceration of animals is acceptable in our society.

Brilliant.

let me tell you what sucks. this kid sucks & his parents suck. i'll also tell you what else sucks. what sucks is growing up & finding out that when you were 3 or 4 yrs old you climbed over a railing & fencing & fell into a gorilla enclosure where you were snatched up by a silverback gorilla & zoo security decided to smoke the gorilla.

fuck that being on my conscience... yeah i was a little shithead that got a gorilla killed. those parents should be forced into heavy long years of manual labor at this zoo

im not fond of these shooters either. there could have been another way i believe

what is positive in the greater scheme of things... harambe isn't held captive for human entertainment anymore

rgambs said:

Zoos do raise a serious amount of money for conservation programs and they can be a tool for teaching kids proper respect for nature, as paradoxical as that sounds, it is true.

The masses will not stop going to zoos so I see no reason to deprive my son of what can be a gloriously fun time (if done right, has anyone here ever been to a zoo on the first beautiful day of the spring? The animals are literally frolicking about), and I will teach him about the moral implications of imprisoning animals for entertainment.

I don't believe the ends justify the means. we can use other tools about respecting nature. we don't need to imprison animals to do so.

HughFreakingDillon said:

rgambs said:

Zoos do raise a serious amount of money for conservation programs and they can be a tool for teaching kids proper respect for nature, as paradoxical as that sounds, it is true.

The masses will not stop going to zoos so I see no reason to deprive my son of what can be a gloriously fun time (if done right, has anyone here ever been to a zoo on the first beautiful day of the spring? The animals are literally frolicking about), and I will teach him about the moral implications of imprisoning animals for entertainment.

I don't believe the ends justify the means. we can use other tools about respecting nature. we don't need to imprison animals to do so.

I agree with you.
But I won't boycott, I am not the type for meaningless gestures. Zoos aren't going anywhere and a third party candidate will never win, so I won't deprive my child of the fun of zoos and I will vote for the lesser of two evils because the empty gestures have consequences.

people saying 'just watch your kid' obviously don't have a 3 year old, and definitely not multiple kids. You cant have your guard up all the time. Shit happens. Apparently the parent was distracted by other kids. It was probably a reasonable assumption the Gorilla habitat was secure.

As far as shooting the Gorilla. Absolutely the right call.

chadwick said:

yrs ago a female gorilla at some zoo went over & picked up a kid that had fallen into her enclosure & she carried the kid over to a zookeeper or whatever their title is. heard this on the news yesterday.

maybe the zoo should have sent in a couple female gorillas? maybe the zoo should have sent in a few female zookeepers? heck send in a handfulla calm & soft talking ppl & get the crowd back & quiet them down. part of this gorilla's excitement was the screaming crowd. calm the frig down.
maybe i'm wrong.


shooting the gorilla sucks.

I remember that story, chadwick. And I really don't know the shoulds and all the could have beens, but am pretty much on the same page.

MayDay10 said:

it sucks, but the kid was getting 'manhandled' (by someone 6x as strong as a man) and the gorilla was become visibly defensive. They said the kid could have been torn to shreds at any second.

Not to mention the gorilla could have just sat on him to a quick suffocation or pulled a Lenny.