Karen says "I happen to enjoy the great pleasure of GOING TO THE ZOO every week and spending hours upon hours with orangutans and gorillas whom I regard as friends, and I have found their behavior is most often much more dignified than the human observers! I would never in a thousand years be SO ARROGANT as to think they were HERE FOR ME!" [emphasis mine]I notice a glaring contradiction in the above statement. What on Earth are zoos, if not for human pleasure and entertainment? Most naturalists would agree that an animal has had something taken away from it if it cannot live free in its environment. For an interesting book on the roles of zoos in the horrors of orangutan trade, read "The Follow" by Linda Spalding.
Zoos are not a solution to any of the world's problems; they are pure exploitation, and serve no purpose for individual animals or for species. Give your money and support to a cause which has respect for nature as its primary goal.
