Alternatives to words 'captive bred' and 'wild caught'

J

Jurek7

Well-Known Member
15+ year member
I don't usually care about words and political correctness. But do you know a better word for animal in a zoo or similar to replace 'captive' 'captivity' 'captive bred' and alternative 'wild caught'?

I noticed that newspapers rarely write 'in captivity'. Thy write 'in zoos and aquariums' 'in human care' or similar. Because it sounds wrong to call a chimpanzee 'captive', when it was born and lives comfortably in a multi-million building with more floor space than many human houses. Actually 'captive' is most often used by zoo professionals as a jargon.

40 years ago wild animals were indeed caught in the wild and kept in poor conditions for display. Today, at least mammals in Western countries, live relatively comfortably in zoos.Most are born in human care over several generations. Many could leave, because they are kept in barriers they could cross. Many birds are free-flying. Zoos are full of wild birds coming for a free meal. In the same way, animals 'wild caught' are no longer caught for display. Most are rescues which could not be returned to the wild.

So, how to replace words which something which describes well the situation? 'Wild caught' can be replaced by 'wild born'. What would be an appropriate short and fitting word to replace 'captive' and 'captivity'. 'In human care'? 'Kept?' Anybody can suggest?
 
I think the alternative verbage is probably mostly done for reasons of perception.

I think "In human care" or "in a zoological setting" would probably the best available alternatives/euphemisms for "captivity". "Human care" seems to be the most well-known and used.

As far an alternative for captive bred... zoo-born/zoo-bred could work, but it excludes the possibility of animals having been bred by private breeders or at private or commercial captive breeding facilities, and I'm sure some zoos do house animal that came from private or commercial breeders. Perhaps, going from the above, "born in human care", could work?
 
jurek7 said:
Because it sounds wrong to call a chimpanzee 'captive', when it was born and lives comfortably in a multi-million building with more floor space than many human houses. Actually 'captive' is most often used by zoo professionals as a jargon.
Click to expand...

You have to remember that what you perceive where you live is not necessarily the case everywhere else in the world. Captive is a word I hear from non-zoo people all the time over here.

And in my book, the words captive and captivity means anything that isn't wild and fending for itself, no matter how large the enclosure

:p

Hix.
 
Thanks a lot!
'Zoo born' or 'born/kept in care' and 'wild born' seem the best.

I still find 'zoo born' not optimal, because there are private breeders, terraria, bird parks etc. It does not sound best to talk about 'zoo born' fish or a lizard.

@Hix - I don't care about the PR aspect and I don't think zoos need to make temselves look better this way, nor it would work. Captivity is simply not appropriate when you talk about e.g. a bird of prey used for flight shows, an injured animal which cannot live in the wild, or a sessile coral or a sea anemone. Care is better - children in a daycare are not free but are not captive.

Coming to think about it, no animal to my knowledge, even a chimpanzee, understands the abstract concepts of freedom or captivity, or dignity versus undignity. Animals are all practical - go where the food is.
 
For economy and accuracy, if for no other reason, you can use the technical terms.
Wild-caught or founders, F0
First generation captive-bred, F1 etc
 
Jurek7 said:
Coming to think about it, no animal to my knowledge, even a chimpanzee, understands the abstract concepts of freedom or captivity, or dignity versus undignity. Animals are all practical - go where the food is.
Click to expand...

Have you ever worked with apes, or any other intelligent animal for that matter? Saying they just "go where the food is" without any nuance is a gross underestimation of their mental capacities.

Daktari JG said:
Whelp you won't be foaling anyone by changing the words
Click to expand...

Maybe not, but I think it is a fair question to ask whether the vocabulary accurately reflects the current situation. The wild-captive dichotomy is a clear oversimplification of the continuum between "fully wild" and "fully constrained."
 
perdicula said:
I have come across the terms 'In situ' meaning in the wild and 'ex situ' meaning captive bred.
Click to expand...

These terms are often also applied to a broader context of a species being maintained in the native range, as opposed to outside the native range.
 
There are now a range of species living in the wild where all the individuals are being managed using captive management type techniques. Some obvious bird examples are California Condor, Pink Pigeon and Kakapo. The term that is now being widely used for these is "free-living".
 
Carl Jones said:
There are now a range of species living in the wild where all the individuals are being managed using captive management type techniques. Some obvious bird examples are California Condor, Pink Pigeon and Kakapo. The term that is now being widely used for these is "free-living".
Click to expand...

I suspect, at least in Asia where rainforest is largely already confined to small patches in National Parks, that in order for populations of large mammals to be sustainable in the future they will need to be managed and transferred between reserves. Possibly at this point it would make sense to swap individuals in and out of captive populations as well.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top