• RadicalCandour@startrek.website
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    6 months ago

    To add to this, A lot of gorillas that are saved from unsafe/illegal conditions cannot go back into the wild. Places like The Rotterdam zoo provides a lot of enrichment for these animals that you won’t see at say, Joe’s roadside animal park.

    • rah
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      6 months ago

      Why not save animals from unsafe/illegal conditions and provide enrichment, without turning the animals into an attraction?

      • Liz@midwest.social
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        6 months ago

        Because the attraction rallies support for preserving and protecting their natural habitat. Zoos act as promotional centers for conservation.

        • rah
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          6 months ago

          Zoos act as promotional centers for conservation.

          But they aren’t necessary for conservation. Conservation can occur without zoos.

          • Liz@midwest.social
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            6 months ago

            Yes, but conservation is not a binary condition. Zoos are responsible for more conservation than we would otherwise have without them.

            • rah
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              6 months ago

              So you acknowledge that zoos are not necessary for conservation?

              • Liz@midwest.social
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                6 months ago

                Not in a binary sense, no. Such thinking isn’t useful, however. Zoos are a very strong net good fot animals, with minimal downsides (assuming the zoo keepers aren’t calloused assholes).

                  • Liz@midwest.social
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                    6 months ago

                    Yes I’m well aware of the difficulties involved, but they can be mitigated, as your source explains. There’s more issues than just keeping them from going stir-crazy, but a proper zoo (the only kind I advocate for) will do their best to address all of them.

          • TachyonTele@lemm.ee
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            6 months ago

            I love when people like you suddenly come up with a hot take that absolutely no one has ever thought through ever in the past hundreds of years.

      • wahming@monyet.cc
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        6 months ago

        Because people wouldn’t support spending their taxes on it without making them aware of the value. Which is done by educating them.