Zoo's

[leckershell]

Not intending to cause upset but what are people's views on Zoo's?

I went to Twycross with Ryan earlier on, and have been to Chester Zoo and Welsh Mountain Zoo before too. When I was a kid I loved them but I just feel a bit about it when I went today. I'm not saying Twycross don't look after the animals, but they just didn't seem happy... if you know what I mean? I thought about sponsoring a lemur for Ryan but I just don't know if I *really* support the idea of Zoo's..?

I think they are good, but today I left feeling sad for the animals and that surely can't be right. In particular there was a Tapir (http://www.twycrosszoo.com/PDF/malayian%20tapir.pdf) that was in it's 'house' and just didn't seem to have much space to move and looked really miserable, and a Bat Eared Fox (http://www.twycrosszoo.com/PDF/Bat-eared%20fox.pdf) which was hiding behind some grass and looked scared of all the people

I'm not saying anything negative about Twycross, and don't get me wrong we did have a good day, but I'm not quite sure how I'm feeling about it now.. any opinions?

 

[LisaJ1986]

Hmm, i'm not sure either. I went to one in France quite a few years ago. Then not so many years ago i read in the paper that at the same one a Leopard went crazy, escaped and killed a 3year old boy and seriously injured the father trying to save him.
Gives me goosebumps just thinking about it. Just makes you wonder how it was treated etc to make it go mad like that. I know they're dangerous anyway but it'd never tried before.

 

[Suzie and Faith]

That's how I feel. I love seeing the animals but part of me wonders whether it is right or not and whether the animals are actually happy. Some of the conservation stuff they do is great but IMO there shouldn't be a need to conserve anyway (they should be fine in their natural habitats (well they would be if it wasn't for some humans!))

I do go to zoos BUT i too don't feel 100% comfortable with the idea.

 

[A&J]

I agree with the rest of you I do enjoy seeing animals but they never seem happy in Zoos to me and like Suzie and faith I never feel 100% comfortable. The only place that I have been where all the animals seem really happy and I felt comfortable is Monkey World in Dorset.

 

[Laura_James&Amber]

I like the zoo but don't think its fair on the animals to be locked up all the time and then they get loads of strangers looking at them through their cages, must be scary for them. I wouldn't want to be locked up in a cage with people looking at me! But at the same time its nice to visit and see all the different animals, especially for kids

 

[BountyBoo]

I don't like Zoo's They make me sad.
I support Conservation but in the right environment and I don't think thats a small cage.
When I was at Uni we went to one and the tigers were just pacing up and down, up and down, the concrete and bars were sending it crazy, it made me cry

 

[leckershell]

One of the gorillas was sitting in the house too and just looking through the window but at the ground... like why do I have to be here

 

[kitty1987]

When I was a kid I loved zoo's but I went to Barcelona zoo when I was about 15 and have said ever since my lifes aim is to get that place shut down. I went away and cried because of the disgusting way the animals were kept, such as 3 dolphins in a pool not much bigger than my local swimming pool and fur falling off gorillas!!!

I know not every zoo is the same but it really put me off

 

[newmum]

You should visit the zoos here! I was when I first went to one. I think at least in the UK they 'try' to make them a bit more natural and have bits imitating a natural environment, but here they are designed for the visitors. I really want to take LO to see the animals but resent giving the zoos money for it (10 quid each to get in for an adult)
How much do you have to pay in England?

 

[leckershell]

I paid £9.50 but if you get a membership you can get a years free trips for the price of 2 trips I think and supposedly sponsor an animal

If anybody is ever in north wales I really would recommend the Welsh Mountain Zoo - it seemed a lot more natural, and was huge!
http://www.welshmountainzoo.org/indexzoo.php

 

[nickilubs]

I love animals so I love zoos but I would prefer them in their natural home and see them via the internet and happy than locked up looking unhappy. The UK has absolutely beautiful animals that can be found in their natural habitat and I think that is often overlooked. You go to the zoo to see a seal that can be found in the sea around the coast naturally. I do agree with rescue centers but not taking animals from somewhere where they are happy and could survive without human intervention to be put into a enclosure and kept for show. But then I still love zoos and would still take Pip to ones when she is older so its really hard not to contradict myself because I would still go and see them and pay money to see them in real life even though I would prefer them to be kept in their natural home but because they are there then I would still visit them.

 

[mrs_tommo22]

Ive been to a fe but one i went to recently in sawtry and i wasnt impressed!

I liked chester zoo, i thought it was well looked after thr animals were happy, andI love longleat.

 

[zebrastripes]

I'm against zoos personally. Fair enough, some aren't as bad as others, and some of the animals, I am sure, do well in captivity, but still. As for the argument I sometimes hear "they preserve animals that would otherwise be extinct." That may be so, but they also tote them about for money. As nickilubs said, a rescue centre is different from a zoo. I wouldn't enjoy seeing an animal behind bars for no reason, any more than I'd pay money to go into a prison and stare at the inmates. Mind you, that used to be a form of entertainment too

 

[abcd1234]

We went last week and after watching all the zoo days programs etc i dont think it's so much the zoo thats bad for the animals but some of the people who go there.

I saw a family with 2 kids throwing soil at the crocodile, i was waiting for the mum to tell them off but she just stoods and watched, it made me so angry cos they only did it cos it wasnt entertan=ining them enough.

They then went off knocking asll the fish tanks scaring the fish

To me that seemed to be the reason the animals were unhappy, all the keepers seemed really knowledgable and like theyt actually cared about the animals.

 

[charlie84]

I work at a Safari Park and the animals are roaming free so i like to think that is better than being caged.
However i have been to Chester Zoo and think it is lovely. It doesnt feel like a zoo in the sense of cages animals, they have large enclosures. None of their animals appear to be distressed and animal enrichment is evident in the enclosures.