Is just me or does anybody else feel sadness looking at these images?
I love animals but not kept in captivity, behind bars, in cages or enclosures, no matter how large
It saddens me tremendously to think that these are wild animals that are purely kept in a terrible state to entertain us
I can not bring myself to visit a zoo that I view equivalent to a prison for animals that have done nothing wrong to deserve it.
I think it's a complicated subject, one which doesn't have a clear concise answer.
I would agree with you that it would be hard to justify keeping animals in captivity purely for decadent human amusement. And I understand the sense of sadness you describe – I recall as a kid seeing a polar bear at London Zoo endlessly walking round and round in circles and not understanding why at the time. On the other hand, I think it's fair to say that many zoos do more than that. They provide a way of educating young people about animals and sparking their interest in conservation. Many zoos have active conservation programs, both on and off site. In some cases, zoos represent life-rafts for critically endangered species many of which would by now likely be extinct were it not for methodical breeding programs conducted by zoos. For example, the two Asiatic Lions at Bristol Zoo in one of my earlier posts represent nearly 1% of the population on the entire planet. Bristol Zoo also have breeding populations of African Penguins and Ring-Tailed Lemurs, both of which are endangered species.
The question of whether or not the cause of conservation is sufficient justification for keeping animals in captivity is beyond the scope of this forum, I think. Some would argue that the extinction of species is an inevitable fact of evolution and that it should be allowed to happen. Personally, I would argue that while creatures are facing extinction as a direct result of human stupidity, greed and mismanagement, it is our duty to attempt to give them a chance of survival, in the hope that eventually more of us will come to take responsibility for the damage we're doing and seek to stem the tide of destruction.
I hate to see distressed animals being held captive in cruel and undignified conditions, and it's true that there are zoos in the world which could be accused of doing just that. But there are others which are doing their utmost to benefit the future of the species which they keep, and who strive to make their captivity as happy as possible, and personally I have no problem with that.
There are other accepted forms of animal captivity to which I object far more.
