h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I love visiting zoos and I am very pleased to see that even in the eastern part of Europe the zoos are improving fast. The conditions of the animals are much better and all.
I think that besides all the scientific and preserving purposes zoos are very important for the normal human curiosity. I find it very important to show my kids the real animals not the pictures or movies. And of course I love to see them myself.
Most of the animals look okay in zoos. These days they hardly ever take wild animals there anyway - they are born in the zoos and it's the only life they know. Maybe I am trying to comfort myself thinking this way but anyway, I think zoos are good inventions. They just should be even better financed.
I have seen zoos in Moscow, Tallinn, Riga, Helsinki, Copenhagen. This summer I hope to visit couple zoos in Netherlands.

I agree zoos are ace.
I think they are vital to educate people about nature- and without them many organisations like the WWF would have a fall in support.
If the zoos treat animals right they should stay because the animals have a longer lifespan than they would in the wild, and are happy.

Yes, I am a zoo fan, even own a membership pass to Taronga Zoo (Sydney) which gives me entry to Western Plains (Dubbo, NSW). There are two reasons in my mind that zoos are important. Firstly, you can learn and understand about elephants from books and documentaries on television, but can you really understand how large and powerful they are,how and how loving they are to each other if you don't get to see them in the flesh. Now I don't know about you, but the bank account doesn't stretch as far as an African holiday, but I can get down and support my local zoo. Zoos provide an access to animals that would be impossible for most people.

Secondly, the breeding programs. Many countries where these animals come from are war torn, drought affected, deforested places. There is no place in their own countries for these animals to be bred so they can survive beyond this generation. An example of this would be gorillas that are in the middle of a human civil war, hunted for bush meat and have their homes demolished to make way for more farm land. If it wasn't for zoos in safe countries, the highland gorilla could well be a memory.

Finally, being a photographer, I can tell you that the best photos of animals can be taken at the zoo. They're close, few enclosures these days have the wire which makes for good clean shots and the animals are use to people so they are not afraid to show off. There's just no way of getting such great close ups in the wild.

I enjoy visiting zoo's too. I do not think they are cruel as long the animals ae cared for correctly.