Zoo

I love going to the zoo too see and take as many photograph’s as I can I know there are a lot of you that don’t like or agree with zoos but they are  necessary to keep these wild animals alive or they would sadly become extinct, so they really do need our support by boycotting them it could closed the zoo down and  then the animals would have to be relocated, or worst put down.

I would love to hear your views on this, and would love to know who goes to them on a regular basis?

Hi Shaun, nice to see you back in the forum.

As for the Zoo's well I for one do not have a problem with them. Today the animals are looked after, better in fact in some cases than the people of our beautiful land.

Who said anything about a boycott?

I havn't been to a Zoo in years,but only because my Children and Grandchildren are getting a little too old. Our closest Zoo is Twycross, where Molly Badham set up a wonderful programme to help some of the most endangered species of Ape and Monkey, it is a well run place with lots of room for the animals.  I think Zoos have come a long way in the homing and care for animals, Safari Parks are even better as they try to mimc the natural surroundings.

But wouldn't it be far better that we could live on the planet and care for it enough to let all animals and humans live side by side in harmony and balance.   

the last zoo i visited was jersey zoo in 1983 run very well by gerald durrell i dont know what its like now i suppose it will have changed.

these rioters should be put in zoos

Great question, Shaun.  Glad to see you back.  Your latest set of pictures are marvelous, BTW.

Zoos are OK as long as the conditions are not cruel and inhumane and the animals have space and even just a tiny slice of some place resembling their natural surroundings.  When I was a child, the zoo in my hometown was a disgrace - all the animals were in 15 x 15 foot cages and that was it.  Nothing even remotely resembling their natural habitats.  I think zoos have come a long way in the last 30 years or so, and a lot are involved in the captive breeding of endangered speciesm as Cathy mentioned.  There are a lot of zoo programs in the US geared at educating youth about wildife, the protection of endangered species and sustainability.

Oddly enough in North America, its hunting that has been responsible for bringing back wildlife, once decimated to nearly nothing at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century, before it was regulated.  Most of the funding comes from an excise tax on firearms, archery equipment, etc, as well as fees collected by the states for licenses and tags that pays the bulk of the costs associated with wildlife managment in the US.