leopard cage, Angkor Zoo

It's a pity you don't have any photos of them to post.

It's simply the best they can build for the animals, most of the countries where several amazing species come from have zoos that can't show them in an area that is idea. Which of course is a shame but understandable.

I knew I would make myself unpopular, but I feel so passionate about these matters that sometimes I just can´t help myself; I express my views and then "to hell with diplomacy", so to speak.

Chlidonias, poverty is no excuse whatsoever for torturing animals like this. If the cambodians are so poor, then they should not keep leopards - especially not in little hell holes.

sooty mangabey, I get your point and do not in any way defend the meat industry in the west. I am totally against that, too - and have expressed this opinion in other debates here at ZooChat. The practical difference, though, is that the poor pigs and chickens that you mention are pretty soon put out of their misery, because they are slaughtered at a young age - while the cat gets to spend his or her entire long life in this torture chamber.

PS
"...haunted by the "politically correct crowd" " was meant as a semi-joke, in anticipation of the protests I knew would come. Perhaps not very tasteful - didn´t mean any harm, though. OK?

Go on Dan have an opinion!

This enclosure should not exist. When people start to justify it l wonder why?

There is no excuse or way to justify this.

I do understand poverty as l have seen allot of it.

I would not mind betting that there is someone who makes a profit from this zoo. That is why it exists!

Yes asian countries have chicken fights and it barbaric. To allot its acceptable.

It's very violent to an extent in some areas, to the point that it has been branded as a main event type of fighting match.

I fully understand and support Chlidonias' posts here. Poverty is no "excuse" for inadequate animal husbandry-but neither does the safety of a western ivory tower authorise one to discriminate & condemn other cultures.

There are various examples of bad animal husbandry in the West-not just in the agricultural sector, but also in the millions and millions of private households where animals suffer due to inadequate husbandry conditions. This doesn't mean that one should not zing apparent animal abuse wherever it takes place, but if so, try to do it in an objective and realistic way-even it that results in some denouncing you as a "lost cause"...

@zooman: Nobody understands poverty by merely looking at it-not me, not you. Don't confuse "justification" with "explaination".

I also fully support torie's, Chlidonias' and Sun Wukong's main arguments. Although I totally object to any animal being kept in such inappropriate conditions, poor countries have little other option. By displaying endemic species, zoos educate the public on what they can find in their region, thus promoting conservation. Children and adults inspired by the beauty of these creatures will tend to be more interested in learning about them and understanding their plight. With species whose main threats are habitat loss and poaching, this is invaluable conservational aid.
I would like little better for these creatures to see them interacting like 'true' wild animals in expansive, naturalistic environments, but the conditions shown here are not unique - besides 'tiger farms', 'bear bile factories' and other such institutions, many poorer zoos have conditions not much better than these for most of their animals. I feel it is a priority to try and tackle these problems.
I think it is completely wrong to blame cultures and governments for situations like this. As Chlidonias pointed out earlier, if a poor government has money to spend, its priorities will not lie with captive animals if human poverty is such an issue. It is comments like these which have kept me from posting some of my photos of Egyptian zoos on here (some of which have cages little better than those seen at Angkor zoo.)