Nagging questions on the wisdom of zoos

The Christian Science Monitor, which has notably been giving animal issues much attention lately, has a story on page 3 of the Thursday, June 9 edition headed, "Nagging questions on the wisdom of zoos." It takes a balanced look at zoos, mentioning the three recent elephant deaths at Chicago's Lincoln Park Zoo and continuing:

"But the elephants are only the largest examples in a string of publicized animal deaths here, including three langur monkeys, two gorillas, a camel, and a marmoset, and they've sparked several investigations into zoo practices, elicited a storm of letters to the editor, and fueled a long-running debate about whether elephants - or, for that matter, other animals - belong behind bars."

There is a strong quote from PETA's Debbie Leahy: "Zoos are really just a depressing place. You go in and see animals deprived of everything that's important to them."

A recurring theme in the article is zoo visitors noting that the enclosures look small and the animals don't look happy but coming back to the basically selfish human instinct and asking "But, how else can people like us who can't travel to Australia and Africa get to see them?"

You can read the whole article on line at: http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/0609/p03s02-ussc.html

Large reader responses to animal issue stories will keep them coming. The Christian Science Monitor takes letters at: http://csmonitor.com/cgi-bin/encryptmail.pl?ID=CFF0C5E4

There is also an online vote on that web page:
"Have zoos outlived their usefulness as institutions?"
No -- It's still important to preserve endangered species and raise awareness of wildlife issues.
Yes -- Even if they are educational, it's just not appropriate anymore to keep animals behind bars."

Please vote on behalf of the animals -- they lose more in life at the zoo than we gain from looking at them.


(DawnWatch is an animal advocacy media watch that looks at animal issues in the media and facilitates one-click responses to the relevant media outlets. You can learn more about it, and sign up for alerts at http://www.DawnWatch.com. If you forward or reprint DawnWatch alerts, please do so unedited -- leave DawnWatch in the title and include this tag line.)