: 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.
Uh, well actually there is no admission charge at Como Zoo in St.Paul so I am not financially supporting it either. I do support OFI though and the Dian Fossey Fund. Seeing as there is civil war in the mountain gorilla territory(Virungas) in Africa and the gorilla are getting shot in the crossfire, the starving citizens of Rawanda are eating gorilla meat, and poaching them just to support their families, along with the Western and Eastern Lowland gorillas, and they kill them because they believe eating them will give them the strength of a gorilla,and there are the apes that get caught in snares set for other animals, they are not so well off in africa either, but thats not counting the severe deforestation problem which is wiping out their habitat, and the refugees who camp on the forest fringes doing a great amount of damage also. Then there are the orangutans, my personal favorite. The Dayaks and Malays are warring in Borneo at this time, the great forest fires caused by slash & burn farming methods used by people new to the area and not skilled at this technique. This(once again) destroyed immense amounts of habitat, created a rivalry for food with the people of this area who were affected by the fires and (once again) deforestation. And who do you suppose buys this land and timber and funds these great deforestation efforts? HINT:people in industrialized nations with lots of $ unlike the poor of Africa & Indonesia (Sumatra & Borneo are native homes of orangutan)That would be us, so if you have ever purchased any furniture, paneling, etc. made from old forest wood(exotics like mahogany) or made copies at Kinkos in the past, pretty much, if you've used paper or wood in your lifetime you have contributed to the killing of apes, even more so if you live in an industrialized nation. You don't have to use the wood product yourself either, just use a service which can do it for you, like insurance, phone, whatever takes paperwork. Also in Borneo orangutans are eaten by starving people, sold for $ to survive, etc. They are also exploited for films and advertising. So if you ever saw BJ & the Bear you also contributed.
And just by living off the wealth of the slave trade, which we all are here in the US & Europe, you could be giving a good portion of your earnings to these countries to make up for what was taken from them, causing their present poverty levels in the first place, not to mention European occupied nations, whom were left floundering when they finally won back control, but didn't have the skills to govern their affairs, therefor muddling them badly. So as far as I can see, and i'm not alone in this viewpoint, we all have quite a hand in it.
Now if you are done making assumptions, I can explain that what I do at the zoo is entertain the apes & monkeys. It may sound odd, but here in MN we have very long cold winters requiring most of the animals to be stuck indoors for months on end(about half the year)They tend to get bored out of their wits, cabin fever, as we call it. So I found that bringing toys, books, nick nacks, dishes, scarves, jewelry, markers & (recycled) paper to the primate building, is great relief from boredom for the apes and great fun for me. And believe me, I have tried for years to figure out a way to break all the animals out of the zoo and return them home. But as you may imagine, I have not found a way yet. A 450 pound gorilla is not easy to hide even if you can get him out. But they like to watch me make a goofball of myself(in front of other visitors no less)I try anything that I think may relieve their monotony. Gorillas do like to look at books and draw(so do chimpanzees and bonobos but there are none here)Orangutans like "stuff" so do monkeys. They seem to enjoy these shows, because they come right up when they see me walk in. So if this is so offensive to you, then I feel sorry for any pets if have any. I am no supporter of the zoo concept. I cannot even look at the grizzly and kodiak. The first time I did, I started bawling in front of everyone. It was very obvious they are terribly unhappy, so I give them the respect of not staring at them in their misery. Most often my reaction to seeing the captives in the zoo, is to cry. I am beginning college this fall to earn a degree for a career in conservation. At first I wanted to study orangutan but I realized that if I really cared about them , I should focus more on their home than them. So Kevin, my judge & jury, what is your verdict now? How many hours do you spare a week to entertain ape inmates? I go a good 6 myself. Join OFI or one of the many other ape organizations ASAP!
