Zoos are cruel....

Said no one ever. Apart from in sarcasm that is.

While I admire her bravery, what the hell does she thin she is she doing when she says: "we proudly house over 100 fascinating animals, from majestic African Lions & Bengal tigers to incredible crocodiles, delightful sloth bears & many more."

I realise she could not have predicted a child being thrown into the crocs enclosure but, if the zoo didn't exist, this incident would not have happened.

Re conservation. As @6ate9 says: "We have caused most of the problems on this planet, but other living things have to suffer for our selfishness and greed." I'd add guilt to that. Because that is what a lot of conservation is about as far as I can see. An attempt to appease our own guilt.

They do help with conservation but we live in a more pro animal and regulated society. There should be minimum guidelines for zoo's across the world which is impossible to control. I once saw a beautiful lion in a poor country. It's cage was so small and it was pacing around in circles and I cried so much. I tried to explain this is wrong and they just robbed me off. A friend had another similar experience in an Eastern European country, I can't remember exactly which one. Portugal has just opened a national reserve park for elephants no longer used in circuses. The animals should be taken out and out into larger spaces like this. Zoo's should be phased out and only specialist, strictly regulated zoo's should exist for important conservation work.

You're right. Ban them all. Any existing pets should be released into the wild.

This is a y6 debate topic. The arguments are fairly similar.

Why should animals be used as assistance animals? Humans should assist humans so animals don’t have to. Guide dogs for the blind often get very stressed.

But all this only benefits humans. Animals should not be interfered with. Leave them to live in the wild and if they become extinct, so be it. We have caused most of the problems on this planet, but other living things have to suffer for our selfishness and greed.

Agree.
However, I am in awe that in the recent incident the wife of the zoo owner went into the crocodile after that poor child.
There are good people trying to make zoos better places but they should be phased out imo.
Needless to say I go to neither zoos nor aquariums.

I would stop pet ownership as well, unless it's some sort of assistance animal.

Because it keeps species alive, helps us learn more about them, and keeps the door open to returning the species to its natural habitat.

Biodiversity is a good thing (can we agree on that at least?), we shouldn't knowingly let species become extinct. Keeping some in captivity whilst simultaneously working to conserve / improve their natural habitat is better than running the risk of the species dying out.

Maybe in an ideal world zoos wouldn't be needed, but we aren't there yet.

Why is conservation to be commended if it means keeping animals in captivity?

Terribly cruel, especially if a crocodile eats your child! I don’t really like zoos or wildlife parks as I would prefer to see these animals in their native habitat. Conservation is their main aim these days which is to be commended. I do love to eat meat though.

If things had moved on, there would be no animals living in captivity!!! Captive breeding rarely results in successful reintroduction into the wild.

I imagine things are better but there is no way human beings can create a suitable environment for a herd of elephants to live in a city. To think we can is sheer insanity or more likely just another example of human arrogance (not meant to poster personally).

Obviously things have moved on. I guess lessons have been learnt. But animals still die, unnecessarily, in zoos, just in different ways.

That’s awful!! The penguins in The Sea Life Aquarium in London is incredibly cruel. They are kept in a windowless basement. They are now going to be moved due to pressure from MPs and animal welfare campaigners. The penguins have endured about 15 years living like this.

That was 45 years ago. Is it not possible thigs have moved on since then?

Didn't anyone visit London Zoo in the late 70s early 80s? I know it's not like that now, but watching an obviously distressed elephant, Pole Pole, during a school visit in '79 was heartbreaking. They didnt attempt to rescue/move her until '83, which had a disastrous outcome.

It absolutely coloured how I feel about zoos.

But do other animals needs our love or our respect? I'd say the latter. Respect them enough to stay our of their areas, to not take too much of their land, to not take too much of their food, to not destroy or pollute their environments and respect them enough to not lock them up in cages to satisfy people's curiosity.

Agree and I strongly believe that some zoos do foster a life long love of animals and their conservation in some children who live in inner cities; I know it did in me.

No, no we don't.

Oh I thought you were talking about chimps.
That's getting two issues confused, sorry.
But I suggest you take a look at the elderly parents threads. Try telling them that modern medicine is a universally good thing.

It's fairy well documented that pre modern medicine approximately half of all children born died before the age of 5 and mothers had much larger families than today.

They are pretty specific figures. Got anything to back that up?
Life in a natural environment is tough. It needs to be. That's how populations remain healthy.
But yes, given the choice of a natural one or one in a zoo, I'd take the former any day of the week.
Just had a quick look at the Chester chimp. A tragic story and Chester zoo was clearly not the worst place he could have ended up. But I do question whether a chimp with an unknown genetic history - he was rescued from a New York pet shop apparently and brought up in Manhattan - should really have sired 22 young. Not sure it was in his best interests and potentially not the future of chimps in that area.

Took too long to write post. My whole point is people should not be in charge of other animals' lives. Of course the Chester chimp could not be released into the wild. The point is he should never have been put in the position he was in the first place. And while it's nice to think he had a good life at Chester zoo, we don't really know that that was the case. We disrespect animals when we think we know what is best for them.