South Lakes Safari Zoo - Discussions on zookeeping.

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maledicenttails
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South Lakes Safari Zoo - Discussions on zookeeping.

Post by maledicenttails »

Growing up, I would often go on trips to the Auckland Zoo. It's basically a normal thing for almost all Auckland schools to do, primary and high school.

Being vegan for little over a year, I don't really know about the ethics around zookeeping and would like to get everybody's opinions on them.

I thought that the recent events around the South Lakes Safari Zoo would be a good launching point. Clearly this is an example of one of the worst cases possible, but what of zoos who aren't negligent? Who exist on the opposite end of this spectrum, so to speak?
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DarlBundren
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Re: South Lakes Safari Zoo - Discussions on zookeeping.

Post by DarlBundren »

We should look at consequences. Zoos can be considered immoral if they mistreat animals for our enjoyment, because that's not a good reason to confine them against their will. There may be good reasons for keeping animals in zoos though, as there may be good reasons for letting people observe them. Unfortunately, most of the time, this isn't the case. In those situations, giving money to zoos can be considered immoral, since you are directly supporting what they are doing.
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brimstoneSalad
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Re: South Lakes Safari Zoo - Discussions on zookeeping.

Post by brimstoneSalad »

You might find this article interesting:
http://veganstrategist.org/2016/11/11/is-this-big-zoo-better-for-animals-than-the-wild/

I think the educational value can exceed the harm of a very well designed zoo. Most zoos aren't necessarily that, though.
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Canastenard
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Re: South Lakes Safari Zoo - Discussions on zookeeping.

Post by Canastenard »

I'm reviving this thread because I have been proposed to join a group of people to go some tourism at Montpellier, and one of the things we could see is a zoo with free entrance.

As a kid I used to be a huge fan of zoos, because seeing wild animals who usually only exist on certain parts of the world far away from where I live is awesome! However, my journey into animal ethics since one year and half made me more critical of them, and I can't now imagine taking pleasure in visiting a zoo like the ones I visited as a kid and loving the experience.

However I'm not a purist and can understand the merits of some well designed zoos where the infrastructure is made to respond to the needs of its species. The last zoo I visited, a few months before going vegan, honestly wasn't bad. It had only one species – the barbary macaque – and the monkeys had a large space (basically the entire area of the zoo) where they seemed to not be bored. I also believe the monkeys were rescued from poachers and people who had them as pets and abandonned them. It wasn't perfect, there were metallic protection to most trees so the monkeys couldn't climb them, although probably to prevent them from escaping. But overall it doesn't seem like the kind of zoo you want to ban unless you're a hardcore deontologist.

In a similar way this summer we considered with my mother to go to an ornithological park in Camargue. When I first heard of it I was dubious because of my high standards for animal ethics, but after doing research it seemed more than fine. It's mostly a natural area made so humans can easily observe wild birds which aren't captive at all, and the official site said they only had a few aviaries for injured birds that can't live without human assistance. We didn't go there because of weather reasons, but I would have been completely fine visiting it.

The typical zoos with lions, giraffes and the like... well, no thanks. There are too many large animals with considerable needs and that are hard to not make bored. And I actually saw the ethical problems close than most people, since twice in my life I was offered a premium visit to the zoo where I could assist a zookeper in his job. I saw first hand the cages of birds of prey behind the scenes, who only appear to the public for a performance, and the cages where they live is ridiculously tiny. I was also told the process to sterilize males, which is done without anesthesics: twine is used to block blood circulation to testicles from the rest of the body, until the testicles die. The fox was sleeping at the top of the tree in its enclosure, because it couldn't dig: I was told there was concrete to prevent from digging beyond like 20 centimers. And there were a few pig races kept in the zoo, but I was told the only reason they're triving to preserve the race is because of sausage.

Now I haven't done research on the free zoo at Montpellier yet, but I'm willing to give it a pass if it reaches my standards for animal welfare once I do. If it has things like elephants then it's almost guaranteed to be a no-go, because animals like these have huge needs that couldn't be met other than in a dedicated sanctuary (elephants are an extreme example, but I'm pretty sure it would be the same for other big mammals like lions and giraffes). On the other hand I could see myself be okay with animals like ducks who are smaller and with less needs. And of course there's the question of where the animals come from... in any case they shouldn't be wild caught animals who don't need human intervention to survive. At least not caught for the purpose of perpetuating zoos. They should only rescue animals caught and abused by poachers and the likes of circuses and exotic pet enthusiasts. And in any case there are problems with the management of reproduction and inbreeding problems to avoid.

Should I worry about it since it's free? Maybe once I've done my research to estimate how ethical that zoo may be I may suggest the organiators to visit something else if it goes below my standards, because if it works then it might divert people from normilazing captive animals as means for human entertainment. Or maybe I should politely decline, but at the same time it's probably not the only thing we'll visit. I'm not asking you to tell what to do, but I'd like to have someone else's perspective.
Appeal to nature: the strange belief that what is perceived as "natural" is necessarily safer, more effective or morally superior compared to what isn't.
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