I totally agree. I posted a rant a few years ago about a tiger who killed a girl who was posing for a school photo at a private US zoo. They killed the tiger - whose name I can't find since I can't find my post - for acting like a tiger. Two tragic deaths that could have been avoided. Predators are predators, and killing them for acting within their instincts when we've taken them out of their environment in the first place - well, it's just heaping cruelty on top of cruelty. Although part of me wonders if the individuals are actually better off at peace than being imprisoned and gawped at the way they are - if those were the ony two options.
I'm not sure I agree on the zoo conservation thing though. Often, animals in zoos become so used to humans (more of a concern for those we hunt) and so disturbed after being made to live in too small/boring an environment, that they can no longer be safely reintroduced to the wild. I imagine some zoos will be better than others, but zoos are very cagey (no pun intended) about exactly how many animals they do actually release vs how many stay captive all their lives - you'd think if they had as good a record as they claim they'd be pleased to share the figures. There's also no excuse for keeping social animals like gorillas on their own and keeping animals at all who aren't even endangered but are popular with visitors. Theselinks say it better than me. I don't have the energy to do more than a quick Google, so there's probably better out there as well.
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I'm not sure I agree on the zoo conservation thing though. Often, animals in zoos become so used to humans (more of a concern for those we hunt) and so disturbed after being made to live in too small/boring an environment, that they can no longer be safely reintroduced to the wild. I imagine some zoos will be better than others, but zoos are very cagey (no pun intended) about exactly how many animals they do actually release vs how many stay captive all their lives - you'd think if they had as good a record as they claim they'd be pleased to share the figures. There's also no excuse for keeping social animals like gorillas on their own and keeping animals at all who aren't even endangered but are popular with visitors. These links say it better than me. I don't have the energy to do more than a quick Google, so there's probably better out there as well.