Leafleting at Dublin Zoo

by Jacqueline Fallon Wed Aug 18, 2010 22:48

One person here seems to think that it is okay to have zoos in cities, even if there is not enough space for the animals, and even sympathises with those zoos for financial reasons - showing your true colours there!

Another amadán mór suggests his children have a better understanding of animals from city zoos. Really, well, would your children understand the two polar bears in Dublin Zoo who went insane in captivity a good few years back (I remember them well, and I knew they were not right , really stuck in my mind the distress they were in, and I understood that as a child at the time). Or in recent times, did your children think the behavour of one of the snow leopards normal, who continuously paced a few steps and then back again in a disturbing repetitive agitated fashion? (that snow leopard seems to have disappeared from Dublin Zoo now, did not see it last time I was there). Now, take a look at these animals in the wild or on the Discovery Channel or on National Geographic and see the difference, and come back to me and tell me that the snow leopards are doing fine as are some of the rest. Your children will never learn about wild animals and understand them from a city zoo - animals do not behave normally in city zoos, as it is not their normal environment.

There are some smaller animals that appear happy enough in Dublin Zoo and not too bothered, but some larger ones are evidently not exhibiting normal behaviour and are clearly distressed. The gorillas have smashed the side of their cage again, I hear, some angry force required to do that job - but then they always look either depressed or angry - but never ever normal!

by Laura Broxson - National Animal Rights Association Mon Aug 16, 2010 10:32 naracampaigns at gmail dot com PO Box 11019, Dublin 2

Well said, Giraffe, and thank you for the support!

As for the other people who commented, perhaps you would like to actually read the information listed on our site, before you continue professing your love of zoos: http://www.naracampaigns.org/dublinzoo.html

by giraffe Sun Aug 15, 2010 12:04

*If circuses are worse than zoos, that doesn't make zoos good. Murder is worse than kidnapping, but that doesn't make kidnapping okay.

*While captive breeding programmes are sometimes necessary, they are not what the zoo is primarily about, and if they were, then the ideal environment for them would not be a place where children are taken to eat ice cream and stare.

* Zoos should be phased out. That IS what the protest is trying to achieve.

* Pointless abuse about "empty lives".

Is that it for the criticism? Can the supporters of the zoo not come up with anything better?

by james Sat Aug 14, 2010 19:23

Maybe if your lives were not so empty you would be able to have a fun day at the zoo with your children. But you clearly dont have any children as you would then realise that by visiting zoos children get a better understanding of animals and how important it is to resepct and take care of them.Plus monkeys are funny.

by George Hill Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:33

Going to the zoo and lecturing people about zoos will do nothing whatsoever to advance animal rights. It will just make you feel better in yourselves. I think this planned action is self-indulgent and can actually be counter productive. Families going to the zoo are not going there because they dislike animals. They are going there for a family day out and actually like animals.

Zoos exist. That just something we've inherited from Victorian times. The fact is that those animals are alive and need to be looked after. There is a need to phase out zoos. This is what you should be calling for. In the meantime there is nothing inherently wrong with kids wanting to see animals.

by A Freeman Sat Aug 14, 2010 12:13

While zoos clearly aren't an ideal habitat for most species, sometimes captive breeding programmes are needed in order to save species that are facing extinction in the wild (e.g. Javan rhinos, Amur tigers) and zoos can play an important role in this. A wildlife park is always preferable to a zoo but obviously this isn't an option for most city zoos for spatial and financial reasons.

by Damien M Fri Aug 13, 2010 21:28

Isn't it a darn sight better than the circus?