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

http://news.bbc.co.uk/player/nol/newsid_6690000/newsid_6693800/6693819.stm?bw=bb&mp=rm

I don't understand this. This is one of my favourite places to visit, and I always take visitors along. The Jungle took in all the parrots, parakeets and budgies which were abandoned a few years ago at the height of the Bird 'Flu scare.

I recently took Scorpio_witch around and I recall pointing out to her how clean the cages were. Mina and her son have been there as well.

The only thing that has ever concerned me is the larger of the two monkeys, who has been in his cage for many years, and Andrew and I have watched him slowly go crazy, if that's the right phrase, I don't know. He walks up and down his walkway pole, ignores all attempts to engage him and just looks thoroughly depressed.

The rest of the animals are well-cared for, the food is always fresh and I've not seen any birds with feathers missing.

I know these creatures shouldn't be kept in cages, they should be free. But some of them have been pets and then abandoned, and they now have a good home. If the campaigners get this place shut down, what will happen to the animals? There's a family of 4 meerkats there, a young brood which were born there a few years ago. I watching them, I could watch them all day long. Andrew loves this place also, we'll be devastated if it's closed.

I tend not to take reports very seriously when they're produced by some group I've never heard of rather than a more famous agency (the RSPCA perhaps).

I think one of the pictures in the report showed a monkey hanging on to its bars with a caption claiming it was trying to escape. Right... Or was it just climbing around like, er, a monkey?

Zoos are ridiculously easy targets. All those animals trapped in cages, unable to be wild and free, at the whim of capitalist human masters...

I can only speak about Paignton Zoo, just a few miles from me and a place I thoroughly enjoy visiting. The animals are given as much space as possible (in many cases more than the local human inhabitants), and they can be 'viewed' in as close a habitat to their natural homes as possible. I certainly view the horror of the memory of the old monkey house with relief now it has gone. These days, we wander over a rope bridge though 'lemur park' and the 'desert zone', where the animals seem happy enough to approach us and interact. These animals should be wild, of course, but many are endangered species. We learn from seeing them close at hand, and through sensitive interpretation appreciate their place in the world. For some, we can learn the causes of their decimation - frequently us. Paignton Zoo allows visitors to see and learn, sometimes in close proximity, and my god-daughter never leaves without new enthusiasm for the animals she has seen.

Zoos are at the centre of breeding and conservation programmes for rare species, and without them we'd lose both species and awareness of issues relating to them. But they cannot function without money, without having animals on display, and certainly in my experience this is done as sensitively as possible.

I will be writing to the zoo to offer my support. It sounds like they need every perk-up they can get

Thank you
My local newspaper have always supported The Jungle so I'm presuming there will be a story in tonight's edition, I've checked online and there's nothing there yet. I've emailed the Editor - which anyone can do, the addy is http://www.thisisgrimsby.co.uk

I'll keep you posted.

For new readers, I wrote this: A5137283 and there's a link to my photos of The Jungle in a convo thread at the bottom of the Entry (must go link to my meerkats entry)

There is a place in Dorset,GB, which specialises in the field of primates ad also has a marvellous TV program which we see here in Oz. It will be one of the first plaes I will visit next year when I come over. Here is the link...http://www.monkeyworld.org/



Stephen

I've sent the Ed an e-mail too GB. These interfering 'do-gooders' really get my goat They don't know what they are talking about half the time and cause more grief than a little.

where is this going to end up

zoos have therapeutical and educational purpose so they are needed.

the 2 monkeys going mad might be because they are loneldy. they are group orientated animals.

Get in touch with Monkey World and I am sure they will be interested in the monkeys at least.



Stephen

In general, even the worst zoo offers a better alternative than putting the animals down, which is the only other option. The better zoos encourage the breeding of the animals with a view to keeping the species alive after we've destroyed all their natural habitat, or in some cases re-introducing the animals to the wild in controlled circumstances. The days when zoos were there for the benefit of the public have long gone.

Isn't it about time the animal campaigners realised this?

Hear, hear

I think a fair number of them have no real 'views' on the animals' welfare anyway - they just want to antagonise and get themselves noticed.