When a Zoo Cries Wolf

The zoos stood to face a budget cut of $4 million dollars. Faced with this news, Zoo New England claimed that they would have no choice but to euthanize animals for whom they couldn’t afford to care with the new budget cutbacks. They said re-homing them all would be impossible; even going so far as to say that no other zoo in the country would even take their black bears.

Here are the issues that I take with this situation:

·         When a horrendous exotics breeding facility in Ohio was shut down for over 900 counts of animal abuse, the USDA contacted my employing organization to assist them in placing the tigers, lions, and 9 black bears that were being confiscated. After a mere two days of research, I found a sanctuary in Colorado that was able to take all 9 bears. Why would the zoo claim that no other zoo would take their bears? And why would they not even consider sanctuary?

·         Why is an animal care facility such as Zoo New England, whose very own mission statement is to “inspire people to protect and sustain the natural world for future generations by creating fun and engaging experiences that integrate wildlife and conservation programs, research, and education”, playing out threat and intimidation tactics with the lives of these animals? These animals are being used as mere bargaining chips. Making claims such as their black bears couldn’t be placed elsewhere and would have to be destroyed, when in fact I placed 9 bears in two days, is outrageous, careless, and irresponsible.

·         Finally, what does this say about the state of zoos in general? Most zoos do obtain a majority of their funding from the State. Why do we take animals out of their natural habitat, only to spend millions of tax-payer dollars to recreate the very habitat from which they were removed? To “protect” them? To “educate” the public on these species? To show children what it means to conserve?

As far as I can tell, what this situation has shown us is that we protect them so long as our personal interests aren’t compromised. We educate the public by means of parading the animals in front of them for profit. And we show children just how very disposable the lives of these animals are when the going gets tough.

To me, it sounds like they are better off in the wild.