Cats & Other Domestic Animals in Zoos

In Europe, we have a mix. In Germany and Austria, absolute majority of non-pedigree dogs is neutered/spayed, don´t know about percentage among cats. In Norway, neutering/spaying of dogs and cats is illegal. In my country, we have people from both camps (pro / contra routine castrations), however most shelters do spay/neuter now and some towns run catch-spay-release program for feral cats.

One phenomenon of this strange covid19 year is disruption of transport of tens of thousand stray dogs for adoption from stray-dogs-heavy countries (Romania, Ukraine, Greece, Spain etc.) to richer european countries that have no/negligent strays thanks to widespread spay/neuter policy. Closed borders and decreased air travel make it hard/impossible. The resulting pressure on local shelters and municipalities might lead to significant uptake of spay/neuter in these locations. If you can´t no longer export your problem abroad, you will need to solve it at source. Silver lining.

 

That is interesting, what do Australian zoos do about this issue ?

I mean are feral cats captured ? Euthanized ?

 

I think the challenge with this issue of feral cats is that it is a huge societal problem and zoos can only do so much with limited resources and many other commitments.

It is very difficult too because do the "wrong thing" and it is another "black mark" against zoos to the "animal rights activist" brigade.

It is a very difficult situation to manage I think and there are no clear cut answers or solutions.

 

What happened to them after they were found.

 

The thing I don’t like about certain animal rights activists is the fact that they don’t always read the full story. So the zoos could have an animal die because of the feral cats giving the toxoplasmosis, and then the activists would say it’s because of the zoos not treating th animals with proper care then when the zoos attempt to cull the feral cat population they would get angry that they are killing animals for no reason.

 

I remember thinking of this too!

 

Yep, you definitely hit the nail on the head there, that is indeed the problem.

They do not want to read the full story or acknowledge the facts and in fact often twist them to suit their own anti-zoo narrative.

This is really quite a shame in my opinion because if they were to put to one side their bias and hatred of zoos for just one moment and actually help to try and apply themselves to the problem of feral cats and toxoplasmosis then a lot could be achieved in terms of improving wellbeing of animals.

Unfortunately they are far too entrenched in their position to do so and I suspect that they would think of the situation with toxoplasmosis transmission to zoo animals as just another strategic propaganda opportunity to cast them in a bad light.

 

The other thing is a lot of the biologists/zoologists that they say would also be anti-zoo are pro-zoo such as Jane Goodall and Sir David Attenborough. One of my favorite quotes is about Jane Goodall’s stance on zoos.
‘I’m always being asked again and again, “Jane, what do you think of zoos?” Groups who believe all zoos should be closed clearly have not spent the time I have out in the wild. They haven’t seen the threats destroying chimpanzee habitat; they don’t understand what it’s like to watch a chimp struggle, wounded and lame from a wire snare. But I do. I remember sitting with a group of chimps in an American zoo once. They had a really nice enclosure and I was watching the adults groom each other and the young ones play. As I watched, I remember thinking of the chimpanzee groups I had seen in the wild who are living day to day in fear. Put yourself in the position of chimpanzees for a minute. A chimp living in a zoo where people know them, love them, understand them and protect them or a chimp in the wild who may have lost their mother the week before, watching another member of the troop as they’re wounded by a bullet from a poacher. Which would you rather be? I’d rather be in the group in the zoo. And certainly in the group here at Monarto Zoo; now that’s a good life for a chimp.’

 

Very nice quote and Goodall really sums it up.

I think we do have to view zoos critically in terms of their contribution to conservation and education but ultimately I agree with the stance that they are necessary for conservation.

That is the problem with "Animal rights activists", they are unable to see this or acknowledge it, there is no compromise or middle ground, you give them an inch and they take a mile.

However, to be fair I think there are plenty in the pro-zoo camp who have a similar inability to compromise and are similarly entrenched in their own bias.

Personally, I think the sanest and most useful position is to occupy the middle ground of this debate.

 

I’m generally a middle ground kind of person, as I love most zoos, but I get angry when I see places mistreating animals.

 

Yeah, mistreating animals is something that makes me angry too.

But when I said the middle ground I meant more along the lines of having a critical viewpoint when it comes to zoos not doing enough for ex-situ conservation or contributing to in-situ conservation.

 

What does situ mean?

 

These are important terms in conservation biology that describe management strategies of wildlife.

Ex-situ conservation = Conserving a species in captivity outside of the wild in the setting of a zoo or captive breeding centre etc.

In-situ conservation = Conserving a species in the wild in the setting of a National park or other protected area.

 

Okay so now that I understood what you mean I totally agree with what you said about in and ex situ conservation. I mean shouldn’t the purpose of the modern day zoo be breeding animals to help stabilize the wild populations.

 

My sister and I walked down the the creek today and found a bunch of trash including a FREAKING TELEVISION in the water. The sad thing is that we pup a lot of hard work and dedication into cleaning up the creek.

 

That supposedly is one of the principal purposes of a modern day zoo and there are many zoos which do live up to that goal and unfortunately there are also an equally large number that don't.

 

I don't know anything about this specific situation, but a lot of zoos have animal ambassadors that were abandoned at the zoo. I happen to know that the eastern Box Turtle used as an Ambassador at Capron Park Zoo was somebody's pet that was left in the pond inside the zoo. It would have been impossible for it to survive in the zoo pond, so it was taken in as an ambassador.

 

That’d be a good idea, you could also use it to teach people doing this could potentially harm or even kill the animal.

 

The priority is to exclude the cats. If they are a problem then they would certainly be trapped and euthanized (obvious pet cats would be turned over to the local pound).

 

I think that is a very progressive policy by Australian zoos but it is one that would be very risky in other areas of the world.

Here in Brazil and wider Latin America it would basically be handing animal rights activists a propaganda / metaphorical baseball bat to begin swinging at zoos and damaging their public reputation.