Does it matter where the dolphins came from? I don’t think dolphins or any animal should be held in captivitiy for any reason. The only exception would be in the case of animal rescue circumstances but even then, the goal should be rehabilitation back into the wild. I don’t buy the argument that a zoo’s educational value justifies it’s existence. I’ve been to zoos all over the world and it is the exception to see a zoo where it’s apparent the animal’s welfare is the top priority.
I got a heads up on trigonometry from a manatee, once.
It matters if you want to give people as many reasons as possible for not supporting the cruel business of performing-dolphin shows.
I suppose, Although couldn’t it be spun that in being sold to the show they were saved from slaughter? You would think that the cruelty of taking an animal used to roaming hundreds of miles of ocean and confining it to relatively tiny pool would be enough.
I suppose, Although couldn’t it be spun that in being sold to the show they were saved from slaughter? You would think that the cruelty of taking an animal used to roaming hundreds of miles of ocean and confining it to relatively tiny pool would be enough.[/quote]
The selling of captured dolphins to ‘entertainment’ parks is what makes the slaughter most profitable.
And I’m not sure the ‘support enslaving over slaughter’ is a winner; what we really need is an option that respects the dolphins right to freedom.
Considering the global success of The Cove, it makes sense, of course, to use that to highlight the plight of these highly intelligent and social animals, whether that be keeping them captive and forcing them to do tricks for food, or encroaching on or polluting their natural habitat in ways that threaten their survival.
We’re hoping Ric O’Barry will come to Taiwan next month to help promote these issues.
Maybe the Zoo and all involved have better things to do than answer messages of some Foreign activist. I know the Curator of the Chesapeake Marine Museum near my house used to get hundreds of emails monthly about the “horrible injustice” of keeping two otters in their collection. Once you make a comment, you are generally pressured into continuing the discourse. What the point of opening a discussion with some
As for Marine Mammals in Captivity I see no issue with it so long as the Animals are well provided for. I know the standard PC response is that zoos and marine park shows are “Slavery” and “amoral” but imagine a world without Zoos or Aquariums. Where the only way to see an Animal is to safari out to its natural habitat. In this world beautiful and amazing creatures are only images in textbooks or videos on a television. It is a lot harder to care about conserving and protecting something you will never see in your life.
Ant farms, and well-run, properly sized home aquariums don’t bother me. 
We can only hope.
I KNOW what a beluga looks like, thanks to people who HAVE safari’d to where they live and have filmed them.
I did not need to see those poor fucking creatures in their wee tank down at Hengchung. An utter, utter disgrace.
Dirty fuckers making a buck from drooling mouthbreathing rubberneckers is fine by me – except when they’re perpetuating an evil, evil practice.
Yeah we can only hope that children from middle class families living in small suburban towns can lose any access to exotic animals. Education should be only from books and film unless you were born into a family with the means to send you to be an adventurer.
Bollocks. What kind of education does looking at magnificent wild creatures penned into tiny enclosures give? Not the kind I want any kid of mine to have, that’s for damn sure.
I have to say, knowing what a dolphin looks like hasn’t enriched my life much. And I speak as the child of a broken home, with plenty of zoo visits notched up.
Animals; just leave them alone. They don’t need ‘studying’, beyond the level of rectifying the damage we have done.
If one’s idea of fun or education is to go see animals in a totally unnatural setting, and one where they really don’t want to be, then might I suggest spending the day looking round office cubicles? 
You fellows are getting overzealous again. Calm down. Many kids get tremendous enjoyment from visiting well run zoos, especially zoos with “petting areas” where kids can interact with pets and farm animals.
Sandman, have you not harassed innocent snakes in your neighbourhood?
In general, I’m not a fan of zoos, but if we are going to get overly excited about animal captivity, then surely we need to consider “household animal slavery.” More commonly referred to as “pet ownership” this involves isolating social animals and forcing them to live in an unnatural way. Sometimes it involves the housepet having to wear degrading clothes and answering to poncy names.
In the future, we may look back at pet ownership in a similar way to how zoos are seen now.
AJ, I can’t imagine what kind of life you must lead to find ‘overzealousness’ in this thread. 
And here was me thinking your … er … penchant came purely from geographic location and peer pressure.
Anyway, call me a jihadist all you may. Next time I go down to Hengchun, Ima take a big sledgehammer and bust them belugas OUT of their tank, bro’! FREEDOM to the giant weisswursts, I say!
Ant farms, and well-run, properly sized home aquariums don’t bother me. [/quote]
Well the first I usually squish and the second I use for bait so… :raspberry: This isn’t a one size fits all type situation. The OT of this thread is marine mamals which are 1. highly intelligent and social creatures and 2. Used to a range that is much greater than anything capitivity can even come close to providing or simulating.
Some zoos are better than others but I have seen many zoos where the conditions the animals are kept in are far from desirable. This is usually due to lack of funding in the worst cases. I also don’t like seeing animals kept in climates that are different from their natural habitat. For example, hippos and Elphants kept in outdoor enclosures in Vancouver. I don’t know how much someone learns from seeing any animal in a cage. I think the most education I ever saw anyone get at a zoo was some kid who got too close to the Jaguar enclosure and got hit with a cloud of urine.
Then there was that bloke in China who jumped into the lion enclosure and got et. Now THAT was an edumacashun right there.
Someone say ‘free beluga’?