What species would you ban from zoos?

birdsandbats said:
Why of course? Just so you know, while cetaceans in captivity remain a controversial subject even in the zoo industry, Orcas are not any less suited for captivity than any other cetacean. The idea that they suffer at institutions like SeaWorld is merely an invention of animal rights activists.
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That's not what science concludes, instead rating bottlenose dolphins as far more suitable than killer whales. Several problems exist with keeping killer whales, including lifespann, limited reproductive sucess and agression towards humans (something absent or extremely rare in the wild). The fact that some of the arguments activist groups make are to put it bluntly ********, doesn't mean there are actual reasons why keeping orcas the way we do right now is not exactly animal-friendly.

Species differences in responses to captivity: stress, welfare and the comparative method - ScienceDirect

Finless porpoise is also mentioned as one of the more suitable species for captivity when it comes to cetaceans.
 
This sounds about right. While it's inaccurate to say that these animals are being tortured or imprisoned, something as large and intelligent as an orca is still difficult to care for properly, and much of the time these arguments would be far less prevalent had there been no examples of killer whales suffering in captivity.
 
dinosauria said:
This sounds about right. While it's inaccurate to say that these animals are being tortured or imprisoned, something as large and intelligent as an orca is still difficult to care for properly, and much of the time these arguments would be far less prevalent had there been no examples of killer whales suffering in captivity.
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The interesting thing is that intelligence doesn't seem to be the deciding factor, otherwise you would expect similar results with bottlenose dolphins. The complete opposite is true however, with both cortisol levels and agression towards humans far lower in captivity than in the wild whilst lifespan is far higher. The only real problem in captivity seems to be high levels of agression between males in single-sex groups and a sex-ratio biassed towards males (unknown to me wether that is natural).

To get back to the difference between the two species. Possibly the social structure has something to do with it, since killer whales live in family-based groups whilst dolphins live in more loose groops. But that's just my intuition, for all we know there might not even be a propper reason for the difference.
 
birdsandbats said:
I agree that freshwater cetaceans such as Finless Porpoise and river dolphins are well-suited to captivity and should be kept more often.
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Plus there's a stronger justification from a conservation standpoint. The saltwater cetas most commonly kept in captivity are not endangered species. (as a whole, anyway. You do have endangered populations) A lot of freshwater cetas are in more immediate danger, with some being outright endangered. They'd also benefit a lot from the exposure from zoos and aquariums. Freshwater environments in general don't seem to get as much attention as the ocean.

That said, there will always be a need for ocean ceta captivity even if only for rescue cases.
 
Honestly, there could totally be a captive freshwater cetacean program made of orphans
 
Perhaps “functionally-extinct” species and subspecies are included (e.g. the Northern White Rhinoceros).
 
I really meant that maybe that’s what the “extinct” comment was intended to mean. Either that or it was just a joke.
 
That’s odd. Isn’t keeping and breeding endangered species something zoos are supposed to be doing? Also, I have never heard of someone confusing “endangered” with “extinct”.
 
i personally think that endangered animals needs to be free from the wild and not be kept from zoos, they must be protected from people.
 
evee said:
i personally think that endangered animals needs to be free from the wild and not be kept from zoos, they must be protected from people.
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I think you are misunderstanding what the question is asking. Banning endangered species would mean that no zoos could have them.
 
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