Since the San Francisco Zoo tiger attack, does it make you wonder

[Blue_Roses]

if these beautiful animals should be put in captivity for viewing? I love going to the zoo and we have two wonderful zoos here in DFW. But I often look at their faces and wonder this question. My daughter wants to work as a zookeeper and I have to say, after this, I fear for her choice of occupations. She LOVES animals and respects them dearly, but hell, you can take the animal out of the wild, but you can't take the wild out of the animal.

I feel for everyone involved in this tragedy--and yes, including the tiger.

[LeftCoast]

1. Absolutely the only reason I can see keeping tigers in zoos is because they'll probably be extinct

Zoos may be their last possibility of survival.

[Bunny]

2. Yes, exactly.

In the case of the tigers, and other very rare species, extinction is the only alternative. Sad, but true.

[EFerrari]

5. That's propably true.

It certainly is true for the primates. :(

[Blue_Roses]

6. I can see that

and you're right about that.

[Lasher]

3. Must be seen to be appreciated.

It's more than a sales pitch.

[Blue_Roses]

8. damn, that's a pretty scarey pic there

:scared:

[Lasher]

13. Yep and it's pretty scary to think that Paul could ever be president.

Please forgive the shock. I like to welcome lurking Paulards.

[Deja Q]

4. I wonder what entertainers who use tigers in their acts have to say.

[Blue_Roses]

7. you know, I never really thought about these questions

growing up. I just know that I loved the circus, zoo and anything else that was fun and involved animals.

[yardwork]

28. One of them was badly maimed a few years ago.

I forget his name. He and his partner were long-time entertainers with big cats in Las Vegas. One of them was badly maimed during a performance. I don't think that he really recovered.

[PetrusMonsFormicarum]

9. Our Reality supports zoos

and other genetic banks. Like it or not, humankind has created the damaged world that we have today. Zoos and non-profits like the Carnivore Preservation Trust serve as places of study, to refine our own communication with these species, and act as ambassadors for the plight of the natural world, perhaps the animals' most important role.

Like any hazardous occupation, zookeepers must be realistic about the risks of their chosen field, and I am sure that most are. Those that don't respect the animals probably don't last long.

[Thirtieschild]

10. We once saw a lion get his revenge on people at the Dallas Zoo

The lion roared until he attracted a crowd - we would have been part of the crowd but, fortunately for us, were too far away to be part of his revenge but close enough to see it. When he'd attracted a big enough crowd he let them have a face full of lion pee. If male lion pee is anything like male cat pee.....gasp, gasp.

This was something like 50 years ago, I don't remember moats and fences, just cages, which means people would get close enough to get sprayed. Might be hard to do it now unless, of course, the wind was right.

[lse7581011]

23. I Saw the Same Thing-Almost!

at the San Diego zoo. Except it was a large tiger and there was a glass baricade in between!

[TahitiNut]

11. In Detroit, we let them play "in the wild" here ....

[Thirtieschild]

12. My husband's novel about a man-eating tiger tells how the tiger feels

The heart of the book is the battle between the tiger, who is trying to show a young boy what it's like to be a tiger, and the hunter, who is trying to show the child what it's like to be a man. The book's weakness is that the conflict isn't spelled out from the beginning, which means readers who are looking for Jaws on land are disappointed and people who would respond to the story don't read it. The best thing that came out of the book was a phone call from a man in Oklahoma who, after reading the book, understood the mountain lion who had killed his horse.

[LisaL]

14. Being killed by a tiger in the zoo is an extremely rare

occurrence. While the zoos should make sure their enclosures are such that the tigers and other wild animals can not escape, I don't see this as a reason to decide that wild animals should not be put in captivity for viewing.

[kdmorris]

15. I used to be absolutely against zoos

I thought they were horrible, intended mainly to torture animals for the pleasure of man. I mean, they were treated OK, but they were in a cage and, to me, that was absolutely the worst thing that could happen to an animal.

Now I realize something. Zoos may suck but in many cases, the zoo may be the only way that a species will survive. There are so many species now that are on the verge of extinction and putting some of them in zoos may be the only thing that saves them.

I still wish they were able to be in the wild, free to do as they wish, but I fear that's just not possible anymore.

[Blue_Roses]

16. I think you summed up exactly how I feel...

I'm thankful for the zoos that care for them and allow us to see a piece of nature that we otherwise wouldn't get to see.

Maybe I'm just getting to be an old softie in my old age:D

[avenger64]

17. If a human gets attacked, it's usually through carelessness,

for employees, or stupidity, for visitors, like this Darwin award candidate who was taunting Tatyana. They shouldn't have killed that tiger.

[Maddy McCall]

18. The way it's been explained to me...

is that zoos once served the purpose (before televised documentaries) to allow people to see animals up close, which would cause them to form a connection to the animals, which would in turn inspire the public to support conservation of the animals and their habitat.

I don't know if I buy into that. There are so many ways that this can be done these days without putting humans and animals in close contact.

That said, as part of my undergraduate work in anthropology, I had to observe gibbons in captivity--I have to admit that I still feel a connection to those animals and I pay close attention to any news that emerges in which the word "gibbon" is used.

There is not doubt that caging wild animals is cruel for them. What happened to Tatiana is tragic.

[dropkickpa]

19. Unfortunately

The viewing is what brings in the money (both by vistors and keeping them in the forefront of our minds) necessary for continuing the endless work of trying to find ways to keep these animals from extinction. In a perfect world, they'd be free in their own habitat, but this world is far from perfect and, for many species, that home just doesn't exist anymore. Until/if we can repair the damage we've done, the animals in most zoos represent a repository worth more than diamonds and vastly more irreplacable.

When working with undomesticated animals, respect is one of the biggest things a person needs to keep in their mind. We all go "Awww, look, he loves his keeper!" but we fail to understand that we are NOT their friends, we are their keepers, and it is our duty to respect them for what they are and to work towards understanding them without "cutesifying" them. Good keepers know this, and accept the risks involved.

[nickinSTL]

20. and you know, every good zookeeper feels this...

the fact is, good zookeepers love animals.

However, modern zoos have a mission beyond just being cages where people can gawk at exotic animals.

1.Education. Zoos try to exhibit the animals in naturalistic settings as much as possible, as well as providing information about the animals, including information about their behavior, habitat, endangered status, etc.

2.Conservation. Zoos are doing a LOT to try to improve conservation of endangered animals in the wild. The Species Survival Plan works to preserve genetic variability in captive populations. Many zoos work to reintroduce species into their natural habitats when possible. For instance, the Arabian oryx became extinct in its natural habitat in the Arabian peninsula in the 20th century. Due to the work of a number of zoos around the world, a small herd of captive-bred oryx were reintroduced and there is now a healthy population.

3.Research. Studying captive animals can be invaluable in understanding what the animals need in their natural habitats in the wild. This knowledge may help preserve wild populations by ensuring that the resources the animals need will remain available.

4.Recreation. This is an aspect of zoos. Lots of people like to see animals, and it is a means of income for zoos. The trick is to not allow the recreational aspect unduly affect the animals themselves.

For information on the mission of modern zoos, visit the Association of Zoos and Aquariums: http://www.aza.org/

[blogslut]

21. Zoos depress me, but

I'll tell you a story.

When I was little, my dad took me to the Oklahoma City Zoo. I was fascinated by some small little red-haired, lion-faced monkeys - can't remember the exact name but they resembled a Tamarin monkey.

Years later, as an adult, I visited the same zoo with my father and my little daughter. I took her directly to the monkey area to see these wonderful creatures. They were gone. All that remained was a plaque that read: EXTINCT

Zoos still depress me but I appreciate why they are needed.

[blondie58]

22. yeah, I feel the same way and also feel sorry for Tatiana

but I also felt sorry for poor Jorge, the poor jaguar who was killed at the Denver Zoo http://www.thedenverchannel.com/news/13530315/detail.html?qs=1;bp=t when a zookeeper did not follow safe practices.

I think that I read that Tatiana originally came from the Denver Zoo. Poor magnificent animals.

Your daughter will be okay if she respects them as wild animals and follows the safety guidelines.

[TZ]

24. Umm wild tigers kill alot of people in the wild....

Zoos actually have a very safe record with Big Cats..Look at the american alligator--how many zoos have them? Yet you don't hear about zoo visitors being attacked by alligators do you?
However there are so many in Florida, that the alligators have become pretty threatening have caused havoc and often have to be slaughtered because they aren't afraid of people.
Tigers are shot in the wild because of the same thing. Its actually better in this day and age for tigers to be in zoos so they don't come into conflict with humans..let alone the danger of poachers

[yardwork]

29. That's a very good point. Attacks by zoo animals are very rare.

It's terrible that this happened, but I'm sure that more people died in traffic accidents in the San Francisco area over the Christmas holiday than were attacked by zoo animals.

I think that the lesson to be learned from this event is that animals in zoos need to be protected from human visitors and the humans need to be protected from the animals. Put two violent species (human and tigers) in close proximity, unsupervised, with only a wall and a ravine between them, and sooner or later they are going to tangle.

[treestar]

25. I could go for that - we have other ways of seeing them now

How many shows on the Animal Planet Channel do a better job of informing about them - observing them in the habitat where they belong. We really don't need zoos, they are obsolete. I know some people might be too poor to have a TV, but then they're too poor to go to the zoo, - tickets to a zoo have gotten pretty expensive - and maybe could see footage at a public library.

Granted, few will see the real thing up close, but if you are that hot to do it, take a safari.

[AlCzervik]

26. i'd rather see them in animal Preserves where they have room to roam.

[ladjf]

27. But please, don't skimp on the retainer fence. 12.5 ft.? Who were

they kidding. Humans can jump over 8 ft.