Thread: How to Conduct a Reality Check: you'll love this photo

Haha!! That is brilliant.

You took it? Very nice! Was that at a zoo?

Too cute! The picture is lovely!

Originally Posted by Mes Tarrant

You took it? Very nice! Was that at a zoo?

Thanks Yeah I am a huge animal lover, and I go to a lot of zoos and take tons of photos (you can see the rest of my gallery on that page).

Aww.. I love that photo!

Thats really cute, and I wonder if that monkey was dreaming

edit: lol, so far everyone in this thread used a smiley.

That's pretty great.

aww how cute

I love animals very much as well. But zoos seem like jail to me. There are some good things for animals in zoos, but there cages are so small compared to how much space they have in the wild.

Originally Posted by WolfTsunade

I love animals very much as well. But zoos seem like jail to me. There are some good things for animals in zoos, but there cages are so small compared to how much space they have in the wild.

tell me about it. I am really only comfortable with the idea of having animals in zoos that are so endangered that it is required for their conservation. Even then, it hurts to think about causing some to suffer just to restore the species. I've stopped going to the zoo where this photo was taken, actually, because the cages are so small that it really upsets me . I have a membership there already, and it expires at the end of the month. After that point, I plan on not going again, especially because paying admission wouldn't help them to expand the cages.

There are some zoos that provide a lot of space to the animals in comparison to the average zoo. The North Carolina Zoo is fantastic in that aspect. The majority of the enclosures are rather large.

If it wasn't for going to the zoo every weekend as a child, I wouldn't even care about animals. Right now I am majoring in biology and minoring in psychology just so that I can work in animal conservation. So zoos definitely have their positive aspects.

Thats so adorable!

My favorite animal is the wolf. I've never seen one up close before. I remember when I was younger that I went to the zoo and there was an area where the wolves were. I remember it was quite small (like at least 40 or so feet in diameter). I didn't see any, either that they were really camoflauged(sorry if I spelled that wrong) or they weren't in there. I would rather see a wolf in the wild than in a zoo. Wolves are SO cute, even when their mad/ferocious looking. I don't like how some people say that wolves are pests and kill their livestock. Humans were the ones who drove them to do that, also if I was a wolf I probably would kill cattle if it was an easy way to get food. If I was a person who owned livestock and found out that wolves were killing them, I would be happy to know that their getting food. Anyway, I would like to see one....

Originally Posted by WolfTsunade

My favorite animal is the wolf. I've never seen one up close before. I remember when I was younger that I went to the zoo and there was an area where the wolves were. I remember it was quite small (like at least 40 or so feet in diameter). I didn't see any, either that they were really camoflauged(sorry if I spelled that wrong) or they weren't in there. I would rather see a wolf in the wild than in a zoo. Wolves are SO cute, even when their mad/ferocious looking. I don't like how some people say that wolves are pests and kill their livestock. Humans were the ones who drove them to do that, also if I was a wolf I probably would kill cattle if it was an easy way to get food. If I was a person who owned livestock and found out that wolves were killing them, I would be happy to know that their getting food. Anyway, I would like to see one....

Hence the psychology. Conditioned Taste Aversion has done wonders for problems like livestock predation.
Not all zoos are bad. So long as the animal acts in a healthy, happy manner I don't have too much trouble with zoos. If I go to one where the animals are all engaging in stereotypic behavior, or seem bored (not just sleeping because it's hot, but again pacing + etc.) then I usually won't go back. For me it's all a matter of enrichment, not enclosure size.

lol, awesome.