Safari parks in Britain,

[isitoknottohaveaname]

Is it ok to breed animals in zoos/safari parks, like lions,/pandas/ penguins etc which are now forced to live in vastly different environments that they've evolved to live in? Are we helping them survive extinction or are we keeping them here for our entrainment?

Well there are lots of positives. Breeding programmes, education, ability to see these animals without racking up a huge carbon footprint.

I've always gone along with zoos are doing conservation work etc but how? Breeding hardly ever works

Is that fair to the animals. What's the point of a breeding programme if all they're all bred to be in captivity

The animals you mention are all different. Breeding programmes keep species from extinction and public access funds their care, so YABU. Some animals are harder to keep happy in captivity than others, but in general, in a good zoo or safari park, an animal will have a longer healthier life than in the wild

They're not, though? Chester Zoo does fantastic work with breeding programs to eventually release animals back to the wild both in the UK and abroad. Most accredited zoos have this kind of breeding program. Where are you getting your information from?

There are lots of breeding programmes that have saved species from vanishing. Those species are extinct in the wild (usually because of human activity, though not always). If it wasn't for zoos and their breeding programmes, they'd be gone for good, like the quagga or the passenger pigeon.

It depends on the zoo (and animal),
As a kid, I remember going to Bristol Zoo and seeing a tiger in a small cage. That was it's life. They also had polar bears, and they were PTS as they basically went insane. I remember seeing them, and they would just pace back and forth.
Some animal should not be in captivity (although big cats in safari parks have lots of space to roam).

As long as the animals have stimulating environments and are socialised, I can't see the issue

So tigers/rhinos/giraffes are in zoos and safari parks for conservation reasons.

The bristol zoo polar bear was insane before it arrived at the zoo - they rescued it

I once went to an animal park where they had tigers/lions but they were seized/rescued from private owners. They wouldn’t have survived in the wild as they’d been born in captivity. They didn’t breed them and wouldn’t replace them when they died, but gave them a decent life in a large enclosure for the years they had left. I thought that was nice.

So why can't we breed from them and send them on their way

Sometimes when I watch Attenborough documentaries seeing animals starving in the wild I think it might be nicer to have a nice regular meal in a safari park!

I've been to Port Lympne which us the Aspinall Foundation and they do really good work,

Part of it is enthusing people about conservation in the wild and I don't think that seeing these animals on the screen is as powerful as actually seeing real animals in a zoo.

Are you talking about rereleasing? That does happen, but it is a very big complicated task, animals for rerelease need to be carefully prepared before hand, and monitored after.

Zoos/wildlife parks are a lot better than they used to be. The animals have a lot more space, not little cages.

More space would be better. It always will be. But they want people to be able to see the animals.

I always think it is the sign of a good zoo if you cant see every animal you want to see

Nobody has really answered my question tho

But if they’re being born here won’t they adapt to an extent?

My friend’s parents are from an equatorial country. She was born here and spends the whole summer indoors with the curtains drawn and the fan on high.

(yes, I know people aren’t animals)

I honestly believe that animals like hippos and giraffes shouldn't be stuck in horrible enclosures thousands of miles away from their natural habitat just so they can breed more poor babies to keep tourists happy

Zoo's definitely can help to avoid extinction. The international scheme for Tasmanian Devils is a good example of this.

Are we keeping these animals alive for us?

So I heard in a podcast recently two things.

1. some animals are being replaced by robot animals in zoos. I cannot find the article they were referring to but have a quick Google and you can see it might become a thing. People can experience the animals in a realistic way, without the animals being captive.

2. More of a sidenote, but on the protecting animals front... In America, there is a massive poaching problem. So they started using robot animals to catch the poachers. The problem is, that the animals had to be more and more realistic each time. So one guy developed a deer that lifted its tail and passed brown m and ms to appear more realistic! This is from 2016: https://www.nrdc.org/stories/nab-poachers-government-turning-dead-animals-robots

oh and an Indian temple has replaced their elephant with a robot elephant due to welfare concerns: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-64740853

I don't think any animal in a zoo has been taken from the wild. They are usually bred in captivity or rescued from elsewhere (circus or pets).

I have not been to a zoo in years (last time was Durrell in Jersey, and a lot of their resident animals are endangered in the wild anyway).

I think it is important that the general public can see these animals in person. to do so fuels passion for the next generation of conservationists that will be breeding and helping more animals.