Taronga Western Plains Zoo the latest controversy-canned hunts

steve i wholeheartedly agree that zoos CAN justify their position.

but knowing how the media can twist things - i'd just actively avoid the issue by not selling animals to ranches. its not worth the bad publicity.

 

Personally I fail to see how killing something is fun/an adrenaline rush, but that's besides the point as we've been here before
I think the zoo should avoid this, however, as the bad publicity ain't going to go down well with public/antis.

 

That too, these days!

 

Ain't that the truth!

 

Once again it's a journo's sensationalist beat up of miss information. The media and many people under their influence simply don't think or don't think deeply enough about all facets of a situation.

I know Bob and yes he's assisting Western Plains zoo with their Sambar breeding program. Actually I believe he's loaning them the Sambar and not selling to them. When has a farmed/managed species gone extinct?

Bobs a responsible individual and the furthest away from a "yahoo hunter" as you could get. I know of a few more "planetary beneficial" plans taking fruition under Bob's instigation and to be honest I think the hunting aspect is one of the lowest drivers in what he's accomplishing.

 

Just to add to the Queensland component of this discussion - it might be of interest to know that deer have been in this State for so long that they feature on the State's coat of arms.

Welcome Dave - please stick around. It's handy to get informed input into some of these discussions.

 

While i have never had a problem with any animal being held in private hands, surely Animal display insitutions would be the first port of call for TWPZ , if no arazpa zoos want them, offer them to everyone else.

I also appreciate that Bob may have helped them alot, so maybe they owed him. Its good to see an ARAZPA Zoo that works well with private individuals.

 

I remember when a small wildlife park was going to feed live rabbits (because they had too many, something like 30) to their wedge-tailed eagles, I think it was only going to be 4 but they decided to euthanise (probably spelt wrong) them but someone bought 20 so it did not end up happening.

 

Humans are funny creatures. We seem to have a focus of concern which can be sensitized or desensitized depending on our exposure.

We might see a news item showing a dog attacking and killing a rabbit and are abhorred and yet day in and day out in Africa with Lions / Zebra, in fact numerous species. We seem to be immune to the hundreds of children who die from disease or starvation daily around the world and yet pledge 70 million to bushfire victims who should have insurance.

It's also a case of conditioning. Case in point. A tourist whose only exposure to Lions was in a London zoo visited Africa on "Safari". It never dawned on him these were wild animals and proceeded to hop out of his car to get a better photo. In short, Lion fodder.

I guess we all need to expand our thoughts a take a wider view of a subject before we pass judgment on it.

 

Not anymore. Within hours of the newspapers being released local television news reproted that the zoo banned the sale of any zoo animals. This, I think is a shame. And could have a negative impact on the zoos breeding. as has been mentioned on a number of occasions the zoo often relies on private individuals to help maintain diversity, American Bison are one exapmle I know of.

Although the zoo should still be able to swap and loan animals, I think it is a shame the zoo has lost what could have been a much needed source of income.

In one Southern African Country (can't remember which) Sable antelope were extinct, it was a private game farne that brought these animals back and repopulated the country. The majority of Game Farmers truly care about conservation and they can afford to do good things.

 

i recall eclectus parrot saying ealier that a small wildlife park was going to feed live rabbits to their wedgetailed eagles. i am opposed to any live animals to be used as food (besides crickets and small fish) because in some cases the prey can endanger the life of the predator.

Just recently i heard of a chinese tiger and bear park that fed live cattle to their tigers in view of the public to demonstrate the hunting skills of the tiger. in the end the tiger just ended up killing the cow and it was taken away by keepers.

here is a link with more info....
http://abcnews.go.com/International/Story?id=4261023&page=1

here is a link with pics and a review....
http://www.travelchinatour.com/jim-...-cities/guilin-xiongsen-bear-tiger-zoo-1.html

to my surprise the reviewer seems to have an interest in animals being humiliated and gives the park a glowing review.

 

Typical bureaucrat's knee jerk reaction made with no understanding of the situation.

But as I said in my post above, let's continue to let farms breed puppies in squalor to supply the pet shop industry and if you extrapolate the path of likelihood, ending up being euthanased as unwanted / disposable pets.

The governors need to understand this is targeted to be and should be operated by vetted, licensed and audited facilities and management.

 

Another fine example of the Great Australian Crawl!

When will these people get the guts to back their decisions and not run away from media hysteria?

 

With some specifically granted exceptions [inaugural captive reptile feeds for example] it is illegal to feed live animals, other than invertebrates, to zoo animals in most [all?] Australian States.

 

It is illegal in South Australia, even with fish.

 

Interesting that the news article is only targetting Carmel Tebbut and Tony English. There are a few other people who should be very red-faced over this.



Hix

 

whilst we know that blackbuck are considered quasi-livestock in this country and that this is not exactly a case of WPZ selling off "endangered" antelope as the article leads us to believe (in addition there is a statement that makes zero sense about the zoo breeding the animals specifically to sell, after the zoo let their "numbers fall to a historic low")

still, the zoo board should know better. some years ago we had a discussion here about the ethics of euthanasia for population management.

i maintained that, whilst most of us can come to a loose consensus on where to draw a line where we deem it acceptable (generally with prey animals like artiodactyls, so long as their carcasses are utilised for food for carnivores) that it was a very grey area and thus since it would draw extreme criticism from the public, zoos should actively avoid the practise.

i think heres a clear example of why.

 

Another appalling attempt by Lee Rhiannon and her animal liberation party, (claim to be greens) to do anything they can to get in the way of zoos or any other form of animal conservation.

She was happy that numbers were at historic low levels. She then makes up another story that they were bred only for sale. Miss-informed public know nothing of inbreeding and needing a large base of animals to ensure this does not happen as it has before. Rhiannon does not mind ignoring facts if they don't suit her goals. I believe the opposite of anything she says.

 

It is illegal to hunt them anyway so I don't really see too much of an issue here. The zoo should have stood there ground on this.