There is a world somewhere between reality and fiction. Although ignored by many, it is very real and so are those living in it. This forum is about the natural world. Here, wild animals will be heard and respected. The forum offers a glimpse into an unknown world as well as a room with a view on the present and the future. Anyone able to speak on behalf of those living in the emerald forest and the deep blue sea is invited to join.
(07-05-2017, 10:23 PM)Amnon242 Wrote: Pckts: as far as I noticed, the overfeeding is more common in private zoos (or private breeding). I think that the main reason for this is the fact, that in public zoos there are more experienced and knowledgeable breeders.
You know what else, at Lions/Tigers/Bears
They offer the option called "feed an animal" which I purchased cause it's for a good cause. But this of course attributes to the animals being overfed as well, but I understand why, they need the extra income. This sanctuary was great, they keep the animals in awesome habitats and lots of enrichment but it costs a lot of money and they need to take advantage of what ever gimmicks they can. The tiger there called Maverick is actually a former pet of the Rapper called Tyga, he was forced to give him up after he posted about it on IG or FB (he's a moron) but after he gave him up he has contributed $0 to helping this cat or taking care of it and that is the case for most animals they have there.
The financing of ZOOS is a theme for an interesting debate, in Europe the subject is complicated by EU, resp. EU funds (some aspects of this are quite bizarre). Anyway, Im not against private zoos, sometimes they can be even better than public zoos. For example one private zoo (the one with the 250 kg white tiger) is very successfull in breeding of felids (btw now they have 5 white lions - cubs) and one of their lions was 24 yo when he died (I saw him 1 month before his death). The owner told me that this is beacuse the place is very quiet. He said that felids need just some food and silence. This is quite contrary to many ZOOs which are sometimes rather Disneylands whith crowds of noisy people.
LTB is actually the GFAS and ASA accredited which is the highest accreditation a sanctuary can have but you bring up an interesting debate.
When I was talking to the keeper who worked with bauman, we discussed this. He said that it was the animal rights investigations that sometimes would do more harm than good. At least when it came to circuses, he said the animals where usually very well taken care of but once they were forced to get rid of them, the animals would end up in a lot of poorly run "sanctuaries" and he wondered if it was better for the animals to just live their lives out in the circus. Either way we both agreed that no animal belonged in the circus or behind bars and we both think that this is the end of an era and you will not see these animals in captivity in the next 50 years.