Over the break, I had a brief discussion with one of Boy's friends concerning zoos. I said something generic like maybe this spring break we'll be near Houston and we can go to the Houston Zoo. His friend made her stand that zoos seem cruel, what with keeping the animals in small spaces, and not letting them live natural lives.
I agree, but I think it is important that we be able to see the animals up close, if anything it makes us appreciate the animals more, or worse, we get to see what species animal we are failing. Efforts in zoos have led to miraculous comebacks, I am sure it was studying the bald eagle in controlled environments like zoos that we learned that DDT (a pesticide) was responsible for giving their eggs weakened shells which would not last a full pregnancy. Every day new and miraculously clever ways to help a different animal comes from the efforts of our zoos.
If not for zoos, how many of us would even see elephants? I have zero interest in traveling to Africa or Asia to see them in their natural habitat, but I love knowing such an animal is out there. On the other hand, they can be destructive just by their sheer size. The same can be said of their brethren, like tigers, bears, lions, any other apex animals that might be tempted to eat man.
We have become too much for this planet, I wish zoos would work on minitarizing some of these troubling animals. Imagine an elephant the size of a pug, how cute would they be as pets? A one pound Bengal tiger would still be a handful, but still cuter than the 500 pound variety that exists right now.
It sounds harsh, but we have changed the planet to serve our purpose. Do we need Bengal tigers in the jungles, when we have already killed every other animal they consider lunch?
As a species, we suck, I love that Agent Smith in the Matrix called humans a virus, we will someday, leave our beloved Earth behind along with all the animals we can't easily get along with. If any of the "cute furry" ones wish to tag along, they better get cute quick. I can see some miniature elephants going, not full size ones, but pygmy type the size of regular dogs? yes please.
I guess I got off topic of the zoos and their contributions, but they are many, same as the SeaWorld parks. They dedicate their efforts to studying the ocean. It would just be impossible to follow and study all the different species kept in captivity. Again, it becomes if we can't take the Mohammed to the mountain (ocean), then we bring the mountain to the Mohammed. As long as the research can get done, I don't have a problem where.
Sure, I wish the zoos had double or triple the land for each animal, but then it would take longer to just find the animals in that environment.
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