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[dreamer0015]

It's sad that animals are being locked up in cages at the zoo just so people can peer at them, but if you really think about it, it's probably better that they're there. I mean, humans are taking away so many of the resources that these animals depend upon that at least in a zoo, they don't have to worry about having their home cut down or their

Comments

[woodnymph12]

I think it's sad, ironic, and a lot of other things. Such a complicated issue in a world full of disappearing habitats. I'm really interested in this-- zoos used to upset me so much that I didnt' visit them for all of my 20s, but now I live a half-block from a nice zoo, and I even got married there.

Zoos can help with conservation of critically endangered species that aren't safe in the wild, as a last resort, I guess. The saddest thing for me is that zoos aren't very educational if you just see a sad animal in a small cage. But if they have big, habitat-immersion exhibits, where *you* feel like *you're* the one in the cage and the animals are behaving like they normally would in the wild.... I think that can teach people a lot about animals and engender respect for them. I have a really great magazine article I can send you if you're actually interested in reading more about this subject! (*sorry if I'm way too enthusiastic. I get that way sometimes. Gotta love animals!*)

[dreamer0015]

I agree. I went to the zoo yesterday( my relatives wanted to go). I was watching the animals; some of them were acting extremely natural(which was pretty cool), but there were some that weren't moving much (they just looked sad and depressed). I know the people who work at the zoo have good intentions and care a lot about animals, but sometimes I wish there was a better way; you know?

Anyways, I'd love to read the magazine article. I'm very interested in topics like this one.

Oh, and don't worry about being enthusiastic about this. I love when people get enthusiastic about what I write. It doesn't happen enough.

<3
Nicole

[cecine]

Well... I don't think that animals should be locked up at all. Imagine wolves in a zoo. They are used to wander great distances, their natural territory is on many miles, and they are hunters. What do they feel when they are in a zoo, have only like 200 m2 to wander on, in a warm place like California Zoo or something and getting taken pictures of all day? When they are born to be free up in the north, where the temperature is *normal* (normal as I define it, snow in the winter heheh), and they can hunt like their instinct tells them to. Imagine being fed old, cold meat (sorry, didn't mean to become morbide), with many *enemies* (the people/peekers, that is) surrounding you... I don't think wolves are happy in zoo's, whether they are a threatened specie or not.

Same thing with tigers, lions and such. They are hunters, used to wander great distances on their territory...

Or a bird. (Eagle or whatever they have in zoo's). A bird is born to be free (everything is born to be free, really), to use its wings, not sit in a cage 3m tall its

[dreamer0015]

I totally get what you're trying to say. I went to the zoo yesterday (my relatives wanted to go). I was watching these animals, and some of them looked so sad and hott. I mean, I think the people who run the zoos have good intentions and really care about the animals, but I just don't think it's right. Oh, and about the cages being small: Yes, some of them were very small, but a lot of them were about the size of two lawns. I know, it's way too small for the size of the animals, but I feel much worse for the reptiles and fish. I mean, keeping a reptile/amphibian(lizards, snakes, frogs, alligators,etc.) in a cage is not right, and keeping tropical fish in a small aquarium is just as wrong. I mean, these fish are used to being able to swim wherever they want, but in an aquarium, they really don't have anywhere to go. It's just sad.

<3
Nicole