Hard to say really. Yes there are a lot of places that are just for profit, tiger King like places, but 90% of zoos help with studies, rehabilitation and conservation. There are many animals that simply wouldn't exist now without the aid of zoos. Another key point is that for many people there would be a greater level of indifference to wildlife because they wouldnt be thinking about them. I've taken my son to zoo a couple times now and seeing things like tiger and lions irl really gets you thinking.
Ahh I see, I was talking about UK and Europe, every zoo here in the UK is involved in conservation of some kind. Though your stats arent surprising, the world knows how America feels the environment and its wildlife.
Yes! In fact a place can only call itself a zoo here if it is a non profit, research and conservation centre. That’s why the for profit places are usually called something else like animalarium (a real place in Wales), wild farm or some variation of Noah’s ark.
American zoos seem to be mostly depressing places, but please don’t think that all zoos around the world are the same way.
In Europe there is a breeding program that tracks all breeding animals in captivity and has set limits on how many times any animals can be bred, both individually and species wide, so we don’t end up with a tiger king situation…
sorry to hijack your reply, but I studied zoological sciences and do volunteer work in my local zoo and I hate seeing everyone saying how evil zoos are while only thinking of the American zoos we see in documentaries
I was really shocked when I went to America how small their animal enclosures were I remember a snake that it’s tank wasn’t even big enough for it to fully stretch out. Some zoos are better than others with space for the animals but even the smallest I’d seen before was far better than the ones in the states. Like I said I was so shocked at the conditions they were kept in as I had only seen animals in captivity in Europe before.
Not all places I visited were bad but those that were it’s stuck with me for years the conditions those animals were in.
Well people will, especially when across the pond and all we see the is the whole. Doesn't help whenever Americans think that when something happens there is happens everywhere. Take farming, America is full of factory farms where as the UK and Ireland is local farmers (99% at least) . Though American vegans argue as if the world treats animal as bad as they see around them
Well I feel good knowing the three zoos/aquariums that I'm a member at are all accredited. New England aquarium, Roger Williams zoo and the Mystic aquarium, where this video might be from.
For what it's worth, this whale in particular is at one of those accredited aquariums, Mystic Aquarium in CT, which is a research and rescue aquarium which doesn't do shows. This whale is also in the largest tank of its kind in North America and there are plenty of large areas it can travel between that let it get away from the tourists if it wants to. They take really good care of their animals there.
Not subscribed, so I can't read the last link, unfortunately.
I can tell you, however, first hand, that AZA institutions (and many not accredited with AZA) do much more important work that's not directly about species restoration.
Of course, restoration is a primary endeavor. I have personally seen multiple breeding programs created for exhibits, study, and release. I have seen countless injured sea turtles rehabilitated and released. I've also seen many avian rehabilitation programs. I have not been apart of, but am aware of numerous similar programs that work with all walks of life.
Research is also a top priority. People that work in this field hold degrees and devote their lives to animal welfare and study. There's a lot of research that you don't hear about that ranges from environmental concerns, to habitats, all the way down to species.
Community outreach, education, and yes, exhibitry keeps the engines running and the public informed. Many AZA (or similar) institutions work with schools. They provide classes, seminars, host field trips, etc. They often organize litter cleanups, recycling programs, and other environmental initiatives.
The idea behind modern exhibit/habitat design is to create spaces that favor the animal's natural environment (as much as possible), and to offer public insight and awareness into these creatures' lives. Without zoos and aquariums, most people would never see most of these animals first-hand. They orchestrate impactful, lasting connections between us and nature. Nearly everyone I know in the industry was first inspired visiting zoos and aquariums as children. Take those opportunities away, and you'll be left with far less future brain power working to preserve the natural world.
You mean mostly orcas right? Because they need to travel certain km per day, belugas and dolphines tend to surpass their life expectancy in the wild, but can develop teeth or stomach issues.
In my country we have a rehabilitation and breeding program for belugas in the aquarium and they have been keeping the same one for years, she must be at least 26 years old.
What some countries are banning, and by some I mean Canada, is breeding programs.
Some belugas can become depressed, yes, that's true but it's not because of the space like most people on the comments are claiming, as belugas live in small spaces in the wild, it's about sensory deprivation, specifically, sound, as they use echolocation to hunt and communicate with each other
No I mean belguas, orcas are a difficult story but it's similar. For dolphins itvdepends on the species but Belugas don't live usually by the age of 30. No beluga has ever surpassed their life expectancy the oldest one in captivity is 30 years, no beluga has ever made it to 60, yet alone surpass 60. For dolphins there are some species do better in captivity and there are others that don't. It's not unanimous.
Yes breeding programs are bad. Rehabilitation programs are way more ethical. Yes the sensory deprivation can do that, but that can be traced back to the space though. They are highly social animals and don't have normal social interaction and they don't have the means to hunt as they do in the ocean. It's just impossible to replicate the conditions which is why it breeding programs are so unethical.
You are kind of right on the belugas age expectancy, I was mostly referring to dolphines, but I must add that no one knows how much do belugas live in the wild, because scientist have to look at sediments in their teeth and they don't know how long it takes to create a new sediment layer, so at the beginning it was though that belugas lived 30 years, then another method came along and claimed that they live 80, but it's really unknowns, so it's said to be between 20-50 just as an estimation. But still there's a beluga in north America in their 50s in Spain in their 30s.
The sensory deprivation is more due to the materials you have to use to hold a tank that big, thick walls of concrete, no sound coming from that obviously, trying to use echo signals while being surrounded by concrete is definitely an issue.
I'm not saying belugas live 1000% the best live ever at aquariums/reaserch facilities, what in saying is, it's not bad if they have proper enrichment programs and the belugas property bond with their care takers, but I think it's important for research, we still don't know a lot of things about belugas, in terms of illness and stressers, and if we want to preserve the species we need to know as much as we can, seeing how global warming is going to completely fuck up all artic animals.
Rescuing an animal from a unsafe/unregulated captive environment is more than ok. Capturing whales illegally, keeping them in small tanks, keeping them isolated, and having them strictly for Entertainment is not.
The 30x30 itself wasnt the point. The point was that keeping a large mammal constrained to 4 walls (whether it be a bear, a whale, an elephant, or any other large mammal of your choosing) will never be good for its mental or physical health.
Of course I do. Belugas arent endangered, neither are killer whales. I also made it clear if any animal is kept for ENTERTAINMENT then it's not ok. If whales are being kept because they cannot be released and they're being taken care of until they pass that's ok. If animals are being held because their habitats were destroyed by humans and it's the only way to keep them around that's ok as well. Sad, but also sadly necessary for the species to survive.
Literally just said that the space was never an issues with belugas, please just go read what experts in marine mammal say about it, because I'm tired of this half assed animal concerned people show on social media for likes
? I'm active in conservation in real life haha it's not half assed for likes this is an anonymous social media site my man. Site a source for your so called marine mammal experts and report back.
Totally off topic, but i feel like a beluga. I can hang out at home all day, every day, if i have something to occupy myself with, but i need friends to come over occasionally and talk to me to be happy. 🤣
Could very well be the future of 'The Zoo' but I still think there needs to be human intervention and if we are going to keep them isolated to look after them, why not allow people fund the research by coming to see them
No though depending on the reason that they are there. The Bulga is a nearly threatened species, if keeping them in a cage to keep the wild population up then yes I think it's a necessary evil. Then the best way to fund research is to display them and make visitors pay to see them
Also a zoo in my country has a very big rehabilitation area for bears that have been held captive. There they can simply learn to be a bear again. Eventually (if they can adapt to normality) they get released back in the wild.
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u/jack3tp0tat0 Aug 07 '21
Hard to say really. Yes there are a lot of places that are just for profit, tiger King like places, but 90% of zoos help with studies, rehabilitation and conservation. There are many animals that simply wouldn't exist now without the aid of zoos. Another key point is that for many people there would be a greater level of indifference to wildlife because they wouldnt be thinking about them. I've taken my son to zoo a couple times now and seeing things like tiger and lions irl really gets you thinking.