What are your feelings on zoos?

United States
July 13, 2010 10:47pm CST
I myself am not against zoos. I don't particularly love the idea of animals being taken from their natural habitat and placed in captivity for the entertainment of humans. But I feel that as long as they are well taken care of, there isn't much of a problem. What really, really fires me up is when places are able to obtain exotic animals and have no real desire to care for them. I visited Tregembo Animal Park in Wilmington, NC, and it was one of those zoos. I was sick the entire way walking through it. None of the animals were cared for, and they were all in dirty, run down 'habitats' - many were just a big bird cage with a concrete floor, and many were just a fenced in sandy area: there wasn't even a grass! None of those animals were given any kind of water or food (besides what was thrown at them from visitors who bought peanuts at the front), and many were without a mate, or without even the space to properly move. I wanted to cry when I saw the big lions in a cage too small for them to even pace, much less run about. Have you ever been to a horrible zoo like that? That one certainly influenced my opinion on zoos. Still, looking at zoos like Pittsburgh Zoo, I can't help but keep my opinions on a case by case basis. I'd love to hear your opinions on zoos in general, and your experiences with zoos.
2 responses
@jerikjames (1041)
• Philippines
14 Jul 10
Wow. Thankfully I haven't been to a zoo like that. The ideally the primary purpose of a Zoo ideally is to preserve the animals. Contrary to what you think, they're not for entertainment. Animals are taken from their natural habitat to give them a good home and preserve them and for educational purposes, show them to people living in cities. But if they're not being properly taken care of, I think that should alarm animal welfare organizations. Regarding my experience with zoos, well I liked visiting them whenever I have the time. It's cool to look at and observe how animals you normally see in tv behave. I especially like at lions and tigers. They look like they're very strong. Of course I wouldn't wanna wrestle with them. lol.
• United States
14 Jul 10
thats horrible i just recently went to the dallas zoo and i took a tour and they were saying how zoos r good because they preserve natral life some were endangerd and there were none left in the wild so all n all zoos can be good PEACE.