First of all, zoos are not all bad. In fact, zoos are some of the very few places left where certain species of animals still exist because they are being bred and protected from destruction.
Zoos keep the animals safe from poachers. Although I understand that People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (Peta) wants animals to have a natural environment, it is not feasible for their preservation as animals left in the wild have been killed and hunted down and their natural habitat destroyed.
I do agree that the state of animals in zoos is generally not very good but zoos have long played a role as an educator to people and children about animals, as well as being a safe place for them to live.
Peta campaigner Ashley Fruno has gone on and on about how wild animals belong to the wild and that “an animal which lives a long and healthy life but dies in the wild is not worse off than animals which spend all their lives pacing in enclosures”.
Well, nobody can guarantee that an animal would be able to live long enough in the wild considering how fast their habitat is being destroyed and how many poachers are out there to capture them.
If anyone wants to go against zoos, it should be against private zoos, not public zoos like Zoo Negara. Public zoos have to conform to many rules and regulations laid down by the authorities and Government.
Therefore, they cannot freely take in animals and keep them any way they like.
However, private zoos owned by wealthy people have no regulations to follow and these animal collectors contribute to the suffering, exploitation and extinction of wild animals.
I fail to see how Peta’s campaign against zoos with Amber Chia and a weird unrealistic picture (what kind of tiger holds up notices?) is supposed to help animals of the wild.
Peta has always come forward to the public with a famous figure and a publicity stunt to say “This is the problem” but I have yet to hear them say “Here is our solution”
Boycotting zoos is not going to help the animal
