I am fairly new and my first interaction here.
Watching the show below makes me believe yes.302 Found
Yes, for a number of reasons. First, despite what a lot of people say, wild animals can be taken care of better there. Second, it’s an important educational cum recreation concept. Third, some animals, like some people, have no hope of reform.
Fourth, many zoos participate in breeding programs for endangered species.
There’s always room for improvement. The San Diego Zoo is usually held up as a model of a modern major general…zoo, but it has had its share of horrors. The polar bear enclosure, for instance, used to be far too small, and the poor bear in it went insane. They created a big new enclosure with lots of environmental richness. The poor insane bear looked around…and died. Couldn’t cope. But the bears in it now are doing pretty well.
100 years from now, we’ll be doing better yet, and people will look back to today as an age when “they did the best they could, one supposes.” I hope they’ll give us that grace!
Meanwhile, Zoos are scientific workshops, research labs, genetics storehouses, lifeboats for endangered species, educational classrooms, and a little entertainment too.
And…what alternative? A legislative ban or heavy regulations? Zoos are already highly regulated. What more rules would anyone propose?
My problem with the San Diego Zoo is that the human walkways are all designed for comfort, yet certain animal enclosures are totally inadequate. The walkways are shaded and pleasant, yet I have seen a large cat in a cage the size of a small shed.
Is anyone anti-zoo? I’ve never heard anyone say we shouldn’t have zoos (provided that the animals are well taken care of).
We noticed that too last month - I expected much better enclosures from a zoo I’ve heard so much about.
I’m just about to watch The Doc Zone episode about zoos - I’m a supporter of zoos for the good they do - if they wanted me to give them money to keep helping endangered species and never let me come see the animals again, I would still support them.
Oh, I was very surprised at the San Diego Zoo having such inaccurate information about the grizzly bears, too - implying that they are only found in some states in the USA. Nuh uh.
For what a zoo can and should be, a visit to the Singapore Zoo, River Safari and Night Safari is essential.
After you have been here, there would be no doubt at all in your mind of what a zoo can achieve, and if they are worthwhile.
My answer to the OP
115% YES!!
Note - just today there was an article in our paper that the Zoo has bred more than 400 babies in the last year (including endangered species)
Almost all animals in zoos are bred in captivity - I did not know that. Is that better or worse?
I agree with the idea that zoos have to be humane - the quality of life for zoo animals has to be good. Is it? I don’t know enough to say it if is or not. I do know that I’m glad that Calgary is moving their elephants to a much more souther location which should be better for the elephants.
I don’t know if I agree with the idea that the animals should be released into the wild when possible - sending a captive animal out to be poached is not a good idea. If the animals would be safe when released, that would be a different story, but they aren’t.
They’re questioning the idea that zoos are educational, as well - I don’t know about that, either. I feel like I learn things from zoos, but I don’t necessarily do zoos the same way as a couple with three young kids.
I’ll just quote myself from 2007:
Would it be better for the animals for most of the animals to not be on display, but rather to be in habitats that more closely mimic their natural habitat, and just have some animals on display for educational purposes?
If poaching and human encroachment of animal environments wasn’t such a big and growing problem it would be hard to defend zoos that aren’t large enough to create a truly natural environment.
As it is, to me these endangered species are worth the educational effort be preserved. Should we just stand by and let the poachers and the encroaches trash these species into extinction? How does that improve anything?
The zoo environment isn’t perfect but maybe it is better than the alternative. Human prisons are a horror but are they better than mass executions?
Alas, yes, there are still several of the older-style enclosures in use. They’re being upgraded, but the process is slow and expensive. The ideal is the pseudo-natural habitat, such as “Tiger River.” The sad reality is the remaining “pit” enclosures along “Cat Canyon.”
You should have seen the monkey cages 30 years ago. Very primitive. Today, monkeys and primates are almost entirely in simulated-habitat enclosures.
We’re moving in the right direction. It’s just like the SDMB: it’s taking longer than we expected. The San Diego Zoo Safari Park (long known as the Wild Animal Park) is another experiment in animal-keeping: a very large outdoor area where several species co-habit and have space to engage in many (not all!) of their natural behaviors. It’s no Serengeti, but it’s one of the better attempts at a naturalistic habitat.
(It’s so inviting, we keep getting the local mule deer jumping the fence to get in!)
Did anyone else hear this in Karl Pilkington’s voice?
The first time I visited the National Zoo some years ago, I was shocked that many of the displays were “Concrete box with glass viewing window”. Brookfield Zoo (Chicago) went to the simulated habitat ages ago. Haven’t been to Lincoln Park Zoo but planning on it this weekend. I was just surprised that the National Zoo in DC was so primitive.
As for the basic question of the OP, I don’t think anything on TV impresses young minds and gives them an empathetic relation to the animals like seeing them in person. A well maintained and humane zoo is an invaluable teaching tool.
The one hour documentary show, Zoo Revolution that I watched last night. It was quite good, I thought.
I grew up going to the San Diego Zoo in the 60s, I even went to summer classes there. The enclosures left a lot to be desired, but they are getting better. (I’m bummed that they changed things so you can’t pet the Galapagos Tortoises any more, though.) Seeing and interacting animals from all over the world–in person–gave me a deep abiding respect for the non-human residents of earth. There’s something different about that experience that I would’ve got from just watching them on TV–and that’s why I think we “need” zoos.
I like zoos for all the reasons already mentioned.
Now circuses, those we can do without. Making animals perform stupid pet tricks for food is immoral.