Interesting Experience Going To Temaiken Zoo

[nlaruccia]

I'm not a big fan of zoos either. Many of the animals are drugged on a daily basis to keep them mellow.

 

[Matt84]

I wrote a paper on this as an undergrad. They reintroduced wolves across areas in the US, which had been wiped out by early human populations who considered them a threat and a nuisance. So they brought back the wolves, and felt warm and fuzzy about it.

How can this bundle of fur ever be considered a threat?

The lack of beavers changed the direction of the rivers, which affected the water table. Not a problem for the wolves, but problematic for the long established human settlements which relied on the water table staying put. Nature is a complicated and unpredictable system.

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It's even funnier if it IS true! Thanks!

An eagle soaring through the skies sounds magnificent, but the eagle might consider an abundant supply of nutrients and a life free from suffering magnificent.

Really good post and gives a lot of things to consider, from Ted Kaschinski, to Temple Grandin, but I wont derail the thread further

Haven't been to Temaiken because going to zoos makes me feel guilty and sad, but I keep hearing wonders about it. (the sadness is for myself exclusively, not the animals, because I get there served in a silver platter what in the wilderness would take a dozen little miracles to glance at.
Kinda like being a kid, loving chocolate and then discovering you can have an entire bar. It ruins it through inflation.

 

[sergio]

I'm not a big fan of zoos either. Many of the animals are drugged on a daily basis to keep them mellow.

I am sure that this is NOT true at Temaiken. Maybe at the Lujan Zoo. Temaiken really adheres to high standards.

 

[ajoknoblauch]

I wrote a paper on this as an undergrad. They reintroduced wolves across areas in the US, which had been wiped out by early human populations who considered them a threat and a nuisance. So they brought back the wolves, and felt warm and fuzzy about it. The wolves reconquered their territory and hunted their quarry. Unfortunately this included beavers, whose population had grown over the years in the absence of their natural predator. The beaver population grew and eventually stabilised based on available resources. Once the wolves were reintroduced their populations declined. The lack of beavers changed the direction of the rivers, which affected the water table. Not a problem for the wolves, but problematic for the long established human settlements which relied on the water table staying put. Nature is a complicated and unpredictable system.

Perhaps, then, they should introduce wolves into Tierra del Fuego? http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/argentina-and-chile-decide-not-to-leave-it-to-beavers/

¿Lobos para todos?

Thanks, Perón!

 

[Matt84]

Perhaps, then, they should introduce wolves into Tierra del Fuego? http://www.scientifi...-it-to-beavers/

¿Lobos para todos?

Thanks, Perón!

Tierra del Fuego seems to be the Australia/Tasmania of America: unmitigated environmental mismanagement through introduction of foreign man and beast.

I saw a beautiful red Fox who had just hunted a rabbit in that Nature Park just west of Ushauia (Lapataia?) on the border with Chile.
Unfortunately that fox probably became blind after getting myxomatosis from the rabbit or hare. First the rabbits were introduced, for whatever reason, then after they became an island pest some genius had the idea to introduce myxomatosis to somehow kill off the rabbits. 1900s mentality

On a human biodiversity level the Yamana and Selknam tribes hold some of the last speakers of some of the most isolated languages on Earth.
http://www.nytimes.com/2004/02/29/magazine/say-no-more.html

 

[nlaruccia]

I am sure that this is NOT true at Temaiken. Maybe at the Lujan Zoo. Temaiken really adheres to high standards.

I don't know about Temaiken, but many high standard zoos drug the animals.

 

[Matt84]

I don't know about Temaiken, but many high standard zoos drug the animals.

If only the airlines were as compassionate with its human cargo